CVE-2020-9720
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 · uneditedAdobe Acrobat and Reader versions 2020.009.20074 and earlier, 2020.001.30002, 2017.011.30171 and earlier, and 2015.006.30523 and earlier have an out-of-bounds read vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to information disclosure.
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 · moderate confidenceAn out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in Adobe Acrobat and Reader affecting multiple version families (2020, 2017, and 2015). The vulnerability allows reading beyond allocated buffer boundaries, potentially exposing sensitive information from application memory.
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>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30523>= 15.008.20082, <= 20.009.20074>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30171= 20.001.30002>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30523>= 15.008.20082, <= 20.009.20074>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30171= 20.001.30002CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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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Verify Adobe Acrobat or Reader DC is installedOn Windows, open Programs and Features and look for 'Adobe Acrobat DC' or 'Adobe Acrobat Reader DC'. On macOS, check the /Applications folder for these applications.Affected if Either Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is present on the system.
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Determine the installed version numberOn Windows, right-click the application in Programs and Features and select 'Change' or 'Properties' to view the version. On macOS, right-click the app in Applications and select 'Get Info' to see the version. Alternatively, open the application and go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC.Affected if A version number is displayed that can be compared against the affected ranges.
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Compare your version against the affected rangesCheck if your installed version falls within any of these ranges: 15.006.30060 to 15.006.30523, 15.008.20082 to 20.009.20074, 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30171, or equals exactly 20.001.30002.Affected if The installed version matches any of these affected version ranges.
If Adobe Acrobat DC or Reader DC is installed and the version falls within the listed affected ranges, the system is vulnerable to the out-of-bounds read and could expose sensitive memory contents when processing specially crafted 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 and Reader to the latest patched versions. Until patching is complete, restrict opening PDF documents from untrusted sources.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9720 — 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-2020-9720 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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