CVE-2020-3770
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes a buffer overflow vulnerability in Adobe Photoshop that could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems. Users running Photoshop CC 2019 versions 20.0.8 and earlier, or Photoshop 2020 versions 21.1 and earlier are vulnerable. Successful exploitation requires the victim to open a malicious file.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe Photoshop CC 2019
- Adobe Photoshop 2020
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with attacker gaining full control of the affected workstation, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or lateral movement within the network.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation or arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user, allowing file system access, credential theft, and persistence mechanisms.
If Mitigated
Limited impact due to application sandboxing, user privilege restrictions, and network segmentation preventing lateral movement.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction to open a malicious file. Buffer overflow vulnerabilities in image processing software often have public exploits developed over time.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Photoshop CC 2019: 20.0.9 or later; Photoshop 2020: 21.2 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/photoshop/apsb20-14.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud application. 2. Navigate to the 'Apps' tab. 3. Find Photoshop in your installed applications. 4. Click 'Update' if available. 5. Alternatively, download the latest version from Adobe's website. 6. Restart Photoshop after installation.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict Photoshop file execution
allUse application control policies to restrict execution of Photoshop files from untrusted sources
User awareness training
allTrain users not to open Photoshop files from unknown or untrusted sources
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized Photoshop files
- Use network segmentation to isolate Photoshop workstations from critical systems
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Photoshop version via Help > About Photoshop in the application menuCheck Version:
On Windows: Check registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Photoshop\[Version]\PluginVersion or via Photoshop interfaceVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is Photoshop CC 2019 20.0.9+ or Photoshop 2020 21.2+📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crashes of Photoshop.exe with unusual error codes
- Unexpected child processes spawned from Photoshop
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from Photoshop workstations
- DNS queries for known malicious domains from affected systems
SIEM Query:
Process creation where parent process contains 'photoshop' AND (command line contains unusual parameters OR child process is unexpected executable)