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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2017-11306

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-05-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.006.30392 / 17.011.30068 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Adobe Acrobat and Reader versions 2017.012.20098 and earlier, 2017.011.30066 and earlier, 2015.006.30355 and earlier, 11.0.22 and earlier have an exploitable out-of-bounds read vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

This is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader. An attacker can exploit this by tricking a user into opening a maliciously crafted PDF file, causing the application to read memory outside expected boundaries. Successful exploitation allows arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user's session.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied security updates from Adobe to patch the affected versions of Acrobat and Reader. Until patched, exercise caution with PDF files from untrusted sources.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 11.0.0, <= 11.0.22>= 17.011.30066, < 17.011.30068
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30355, < 15.006.30392>= 17.012.20098, < 18.009.20044
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 11.0.0, <= 11.0.22>= 17.011.30066, < 17.011.30068
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30355, < 15.006.30392>= 17.012.20098, < 18.009.20044

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    Check for installation directory existence at 'C:\Program Files\Adobe\' or 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\', or query registry key 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe' using reg query
    Affected if No Adobe Acrobat or Reader installation is found
  2. Determine the exact installed version
    Open Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader from the application menu, or check the version in the program folder name, or read registry value at 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\Version' or 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Reader\Version'
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or application not installed
  3. Compare your version against affected ranges
    Match your installed version number against these vulnerable ranges: Acrobat/Reader 11.0.0 through 11.0.22; 15.006.30355 through 15.006.30392; 17.011.30066 through 17.011.30068; 17.012.20098 through 18.009.20044
    Affected if Your installed version falls within any of these ranges, or is lower than 11.0.0 for the Classic track, or between the gaps in the DC Classic track (e.g., 15.006.30000 to 15.006.30354 or 16.x versions)
  4. Confirm exploitability requires opening a malicious PDF
    Note that this vulnerability is triggered only when a user opens a specially crafted PDF file; the application must be running and a malicious document must be opened
    Affected if You regularly open PDF files from untrusted sources and your version is in the affected ranges

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed and its version falls within 11.0.0-11.0.22, 15.006.30355-15.006.30392, 17.011.30066-17.011.30068, or 17.012.20098-18.009.20044.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 15.006.30392 / 17.011.30068 / 18.009.20044 or later
Fixed in 15.006.3039217.011.3006818.009.20044
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied security updates from Adobe to patch the affected versions of Acrobat and Reader. Until patched, exercise caution with PDF files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader 11.0.23+ (Classic), 15.006.30392+ (Continuous), or 18.009.20044+ (Continuous)

  1. 1. Open Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader and navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader) to confirm the current version number.
  2. 2. If the version is 11.0.0 through 11.0.22, download and install version 11.0.23 or later from the Adobe website.
  3. 3. If the version is 17.011.30066 or earlier (Classic track), download and install version 17.011.30068 or later.
  4. 4. If the version is 15.006.30355 or earlier (Continuous track), download and install version 15.006.30392 or later.
  5. 5. If the version is 17.012.20098 or earlier (Continuous track), download and install version 18.009.20044 or later.
  6. 6. Alternatively, enable automatic updates via Edit > Preferences > Updater to receive future security patches.
  7. 7. After installation, verify the version matches one of the fixed releases and confirm the vulnerability is resolved.
Caveat Standard Adobe update; review release notes for minor feature changes or deprecations

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Acrobat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-11306 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data