Use-after-free RCE in Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2020-9715 is a use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat/Reader. According to the provided content, affected versions include Adobe Acrobat and Reader 2020.009.20074 and earlier, 2020.001.30002, 2017.011.30171 and earlier, and 2015.006.30523 and earlier. The flaw is a memory-lifecycle error in which freed memory can be reused while still referenced, creating a condition that can be leveraged to corrupt process memory and execute attacker-controlled code. Adobe addressed the issue in security bulletin APSB20-48. The content also indicates the vulnerability has been added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, reflecting evidence of active exploitation.
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Impact, mitigation & remediation
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Impact
What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.
Mitigation
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Remediation
Patch, then assume compromise.
Exploits
1 valid exploit after Mallory filtered fakes, detection scripts, and README-only repos.
Small single-script exploit repository containing a Python PDF generator for CVE-2020-9715. The repo has 4 files: metadata/support files (`.gitignore`, `LICENSE`), documentation (`README.md`), and one executable script (`generate_poc.py`). The Python script builds a minimal PDF from scratch using a custom `PDFObject` class, then embeds a dummy file object, registers it in the PDF `EmbeddedFiles` name tree under the ANSI name `poc_data`, and sets a JavaScript `OpenAction` so the payload runs automatically when the PDF is opened. The exploit capability is limited to proof-of-concept triggering of Adobe Reader's ESObject cache use-after-free. The generated JavaScript first accesses `this.dataObjects` to create/cache the ESObject, nulls the reference, performs repeated allocations to encourage garbage collection, sprays the heap with many `ArrayBuffer` objects filled with `0x41414141`, and then re-accesses `this.dataObjects[0]` to dereference a stale pointer. This is intended to reproduce the vulnerability pattern and generate EDR-detectable behavior or a crash. There is no weaponized payload, no shellcode, no network communication, and no persistence or lateral movement logic. No external network endpoints, URLs, IPs, or domains are contacted by the code. The only fingerprintable artifacts are local/file-level indicators inside the generated PDF and script behavior: the output filename `CVE-2020-9715.pdf`, the embedded file name `poc_data`, the PDF structures `/EmbeddedFiles`, `/OpenAction`, and the Acrobat JavaScript timer call `app.setTimeOut("triggerUAF()", 500)`. Overall, this repository is a focused local file-based PoC generator for EDR validation against a known Adobe Reader UAF exploitation pattern.
Affected products & vendors
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Recent activity
18 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
An Adobe vulnerability impacting Acrobat.
A use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat that can lead to arbitrary code execution.
A use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader that could result in remote code execution.
A use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat that allows code execution and is confirmed to be actively exploited.
The version that knows your environment.
Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.
Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.
Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.