CVE-2020-3760
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2020-3760 is a command injection vulnerability in Adobe Digital Editions that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems. Users running Adobe Digital Editions versions 4.5.10 and below are vulnerable. Successful exploitation could lead to complete system compromise.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe Digital Editions
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Full system compromise with administrative privileges, data theft, ransomware deployment, and persistent backdoor installation.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation leading to user data theft, malware installation, or system disruption.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper network segmentation and endpoint protection blocking malicious payloads.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction such as opening a malicious EPUB file. No public exploit code is available.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 4.5.11 and above
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/Digital-Editions/apsb20-07.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Digital Editions. 2. Go to Help > Check for Updates. 3. Follow prompts to install version 4.5.11 or later. 4. Restart the application.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable automatic EPUB processing
allPrevent automatic opening of EPUB files by changing file association settings
Restrict user privileges
allRun Adobe Digital Editions with limited user privileges to reduce impact
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Uninstall Adobe Digital Editions if not required for business operations
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized binaries
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Adobe Digital Editions version in Help > About. If version is 4.5.10 or below, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
On Windows: Check registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Digital Editions\Version. On macOS: Check /Applications/Adobe Digital Editions.app/Contents/Info.plistVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 4.5.11 or higher in Help > About menu.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual process creation from Adobe Digital Editions
- Suspicious command-line arguments in process execution logs
Network Indicators:
- Unexpected outbound connections from Adobe Digital Editions process
SIEM Query:
Process creation where parent_process contains 'DigitalEditions' and (command_line contains 'cmd' OR command_line contains 'powershell' OR command_line contains suspicious characters)