CVE-2018-12778
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 · uneditedAdobe Acrobat and Reader versions 2018.011.20058 and earlier, 2017.011.30099 and earlier, and 2015.006.30448 and earlier have an out-of-bounds read vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to information disclosure.
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 confidenceAdobe Acrobat and Reader contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in the specified versions. The flaw allows reading memory beyond allocated buffers, potentially exposing sensitive information to remote attackers who can trick users into opening malicious PDF files.
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>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30448>= 15.008.20082, <= 18.011.20058>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30099>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30448>= 15.008.20082, <= 18.011.20058>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30099CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installedCheck for installation via registry key at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, or look for the application in Program FilesAffected if Either Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is present on the system
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Locate the installed version numberOpen Adobe Acrobat/Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or About Adobe Reader) to display the exact version, or check the file version of the executable (AcroRd32.exe for Reader, AcroDist.exe for Acrobat) in the installation folderAffected if The displayed version matches any of the exact version strings from the affected ranges
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Compare installed version against affected rangesMatch your installed version against all three affected ranges: 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30448; 15.008.20082 through 18.011.20058; and 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30099Affected if The installed version falls within ANY of these three ranges, meaning the exact version number is greater than or equal to the lower bound AND less than or equal to the upper bound of any range
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Assess exposure to untrusted PDF documentsDetermine if the user or system processes PDF files from untrusted sources, such as email attachments, downloads, or external mediaAffected if The system processes PDF files from untrusted or unknown sources, as the vulnerability is triggered by opening maliciously crafted PDF files
You are affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Reader DC is installed with a version number that falls within any of the three specified ranges and the application processes untrusted PDF files.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataApply the vendor security updates released by Adobe for the affected versions (2018.011.20059 and later, 2017.011.30100 and later, 2015.006.30449 and later). Prioritize deployment based on exposure to untrusted PDF documents.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-12778 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-12778 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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