dbcve.org
Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2020-9723

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-08-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 20.009.20074 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Adobe 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 · high confidence

Adobe Acrobat and Reader contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that allows reading memory outside allocated buffer bounds. Successful exploitation can lead to disclosure of sensitive information from process memory. The vulnerability affects multiple version branches including 2020, 2017, and 2015 releases.

MitigationApply vendor security updates by upgrading Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions beyond the affected releases.

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
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30523>= 15.008.20082, <= 20.009.20074>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30171= 20.001.30002
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30523>= 15.008.20082, <= 20.009.20074>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30171= 20.001.30002

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    On Windows, open Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion' in PowerShell. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader apps.
    Affected if Either Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC appears in the installed programs list
  2. Determine the exact version of the installed Adobe product
    For Windows: Right-click the application in Programs and Features and select Properties, or open the application and go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader. For a programmatic check on Windows, query the registry key HKLM\Software\Adobe\Adobe ARM\1.0\ARMVersion or check the executable properties of AcroRd32.exe or AcroTray.exe in the installation directory.
    Affected if A version number is retrieved that falls within the affected ranges
  3. Compare installed version against affected version ranges
    Match your installed version against all affected ranges: 15.006.30060 to 15.006.30523, 15.008.20082 to 20.009.20074, 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30171, and version 20.001.30002 exactly. Use version comparison to see if your build falls within any of these inclusive ranges.
    Affected if The installed version number is greater than or equal to the lower bound AND less than or equal to the upper bound of any affected range, or exactly matches 20.001.30002
  4. Confirm the installation type is DC (Continuous or Classic)
    Verify the product name includes 'DC' as indicated in the affected products list (Adobe Acrobat Dc / Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc). The version numbering (15.x, 17.x, 20.x) in the affected ranges corresponds to DC releases.
    Affected if The installed product is Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC and the version matches an affected range

A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed with a version falling within any of the specified vulnerable ranges (15.006.30060-15.006.30523, 15.008.20082-20.009.20074, 17.011.30059-17.011.30171, or exactly 20.001.30002).

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 20.009.20074
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor security updates by upgrading Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions beyond the affected releases.

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9723 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-9723 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data