CVE-2020-3787
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes a memory corruption 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 machine, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or lateral movement within the network.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation or remote code execution when a user opens a malicious Photoshop file, leading to malware installation or data exfiltration.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if proper application whitelisting, file integrity monitoring, and user awareness training are implemented.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening a malicious file). No public proof-of-concept has been released, but memory corruption vulnerabilities are often weaponized.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Photoshop CC 2019: Update to version 20.0.9 or later; Photoshop 2020: Update to version 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. Restart Photoshop after update completes.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict Photoshop file execution
allImplement application control policies to restrict execution of Photoshop files from untrusted sources.
User awareness training
allTrain users to only open Photoshop files from trusted sources and to be cautious of unexpected attachments.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized Photoshop execution
- Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to monitor for suspicious Photoshop process behavior
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Photoshop version via Help > About Photoshop in the application menuCheck Version:
Photoshop: Help > About Photoshop; Windows: Check in Control Panel > Programs; macOS: Photoshop > About PhotoshopVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Photoshop version is 20.0.9 or later for CC 2019, or 21.2 or later for Photoshop 2020📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual Photoshop process crashes
- Suspicious child processes spawned from Photoshop.exe
Network Indicators:
- Unexpected outbound connections from Photoshop process
SIEM Query:
Process creation where parent process contains 'photoshop' AND (command line contains suspicious patterns OR child process is unusual)