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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2018-12782

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-07-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 18.011.20040 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 2018.011.20040 and earlier, 2017.011.30080 and earlier, and 2015.006.30418 and earlier versions have a Double Free 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 · high confidence

This is a Double Free memory corruption vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader. A double-free occurs when the application attempts to free the same memory pointer twice, which can corrupt heap metadata and potentially allow an attacker to overwrite function pointers or execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user.

MitigationApply the vendor patches by updating Adobe Acrobat/Reader to the latest version. For organizations, deploy the patch via enterprise patch management tools and verify completion across all endpoints.

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
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30418>= 15.008.20082, <= 18.011.20040>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30080
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30418>= 15.008.20082, <= 18.011.20040>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30080

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:3.0/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. Verify Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    Open Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or on macOS check /Applications folder. Look for 'Adobe Acrobat DC', 'Adobe Acrobat Reader DC', or similar Adobe products.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is present on the system
  2. Locate the installed version number
    In Windows: Right-click the application in Start menu > Properties > Details tab > look for 'Product version'. Or open Reader/Acrobat > Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader. On macOS: Right-click app > Get Info > General Information section.
    Affected if Unable to determine version number from the application
  3. Compare installed version against affected ranges
    Compare your product version (e.g., 15.x.xxxx, 17.x.xxxx, or 18.x.xxxx) to these ranges: 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30418; 15.008.20082 through 18.011.20040; 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30080
    Affected if Your installed version falls within ANY of the listed version ranges (inclusive)
  4. Confirm the application is actively used or handles untrusted PDFs
    Check if the system user regularly opens PDF documents, particularly from external or untrusted sources, or if the application is configured as the default PDF handler.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat/Reader is the default PDF viewer and routinely opens documents

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed and the exact version number falls within one of the three vulnerable version ranges.

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 a release after 18.011.20040
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patches by updating Adobe Acrobat/Reader to the latest version. For organizations, deploy the patch via enterprise patch management tools and verify completion across all endpoints.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader 2015.007.30060+, 2017.011.30088+, or 2018.011.20055+ depending on product line

  1. 1. Identify the installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader/Adobe Acrobat.
  2. 2. Determine which product line version is installed (2015.x, 2017.x, or 2018.x) based on the version number.
  3. 3. For Adobe Acrobat/Reader 2015.x: Upgrade to version 2015.007.30060 or later.
  4. 4. For Adobe Acrobat/Reader 2017.x: Upgrade to version 2017.011.30088 or later.
  5. 5. For Adobe Acrobat/Reader 2018.x: Upgrade to version 2018.011.20055 or later.
  6. 6. Download the appropriate updated version from the official Adobe website at https://get.adobe.com/reader/ (for Reader) or https://get.adobe.com/acrobat/ (for Acrobat).
  7. 7. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the upgrade.
  8. 8. After installation, verify the new version by checking Help > About to confirm the patch has been applied.
Caveat Upgrading Adobe Acrobat may require accepting new license terms; ensure compatibility with existing PDF workflows and plugins before deployment in production environments

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

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2018-12782 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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