Adobe Acrobat 2020 has officially reached its end of life, meaning Adobe will cease providing security updates, patches, or technical support for this product version. End of life status typically indicates that any newly discovered vulnerabilities will remain unpatched, leaving systems running this software increasingly vulnerable to exploitation. Adobe Acrobat is widely used for creating, viewing, and managing PDF documents, which are integral to many business processes. Without ongoing security maintenance, attackers could exploit unknown or existing vulnerabilities to execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, or conduct phishing and malware delivery campaigns through crafted PDF files. Although no known exploits are currently active in the wild targeting Acrobat 2020, the risk grows as time passes and vulnerabilities accumulate. The lack of a CVSS score and minimal discussion on Reddit suggest limited immediate threat activity but highlight a looming security concern. Organizations should treat this EOL announcement as a critical signal to transition to supported versions or alternative secure PDF solutions to maintain security posture and compliance.

For European organizations, the end of life of Adobe Acrobat 2020 poses several risks. Unpatched vulnerabilities could lead to compromise of sensitive documents, unauthorized access, or malware infections, impacting confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data. Given the widespread use of Adobe Acrobat in sectors such as finance, healthcare, legal, and government, the potential impact includes regulatory non-compliance with GDPR and other data protection laws if breaches occur. Operational disruptions could arise from exploitation of vulnerabilities in document workflows. Attackers might leverage unpatched Acrobat versions as an entry point for lateral movement within networks. The medium severity reflects the absence of active exploits but acknowledges the growing threat surface over time. European organizations with large deployments of Acrobat 2020 or those in highly regulated industries face higher risks and potential reputational damage.

1. Conduct a comprehensive inventory of all Adobe Acrobat installations to identify systems running the 2020 version. 2. Prioritize upgrading to the latest supported Adobe Acrobat versions that receive security updates. 3. Where upgrades are not immediately feasible, implement compensating controls such as application whitelisting, sandboxing PDF viewers, and enhanced endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities. 4. Educate users on the risks of opening PDFs from untrusted sources and enforce strict email filtering policies to reduce phishing risks. 5. Regularly monitor threat intelligence feeds for any emerging exploits targeting Acrobat 2020. 6. Review and update incident response plans to include scenarios involving PDF-based attacks. 7. Consider alternative secure PDF solutions with active support if Adobe Acrobat upgrades are not viable. 8. Ensure compliance teams are aware of the EOL status to manage regulatory risk appropriately.