CVE-2020-9711
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedAcrobat Reader versions 2020.009.20074, 2020.001.30002, 2017.011.30171, 2015.006.30523 and earlier are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to disclose sensitive information. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceAdobe Acrobat Reader contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that allows disclosure of sensitive memory when a user opens a specially crafted malicious PDF file. The vulnerability stems from improper bounds checking during PDF parsing, potentially exposing heap metadata, memory addresses, or other sensitive data to an attacker.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 20.009.20074>= 15.000.0000, <= 15.006.30523>= 17.009.20044, <= 17.011.30171= 20.001.30002= 20.001.30002<= 20.009.20074>= 15.000.0000, <= 15.006.30523>= 17.009.20044, <= 17.011.30171CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Adobe Acrobat Reader versionOpen Adobe Acrobat Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader. Alternatively, locate the executable (AcroRd32.exe or AcroForm.app) and check its file properties for version information. On Windows, you can also query the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\Reader\<version>\InstallPathAffected if Version matches any of these ranges: <= 20.009.20074; >= 15.000.0000 and <= 15.006.30523; >= 17.009.20044 and <= 17.011.30171; or equals exactly 20.001.30002
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Confirm Adobe Acrobat product variantDetermine whether you are running Adobe Acrobat Dc, Adobe Acrobat Reader, or Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc by checking the application title bar or Help > About dialog. Each variant has slightly different version affected rangesAffected if The installed product is any of these variants: Adobe Acrobat Dc, Adobe Acrobat Reader, or Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc with a version matching the affected ranges from step 1
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Verify PDF handling capability is activeThis vulnerability triggers when parsing a specially crafted PDF file. Confirm the application is configured to handle PDF files as a default viewer, which is the standard configuration for Acrobat ReaderAffected if Adobe Acrobat Reader is set as the default PDF handler or users routinely open PDF files with this application, as exploitation requires opening a malicious PDF
A user is affected if they have Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc, Adobe Acrobat Reader, or Adobe Acrobat Dc installed with a version matching any of the affected ranges (15.x through 20.009.20074) and the application is used to open PDF files.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version later than 2020.009.20074, 2020.001.30002, 2017.011.30171, or 2015.006.30523. Organizations should also implement controls to block or inspect PDF files from untrusted sources and educate users about the risks of opening unexpected attachments.
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- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9711 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-9711 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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