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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2018-12797

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-07-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 18.011.20040 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 Use-after-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

Adobe Acrobat and Reader contain a use-after-free vulnerability where memory is accessed after being freed, allowing an attacker to potentially execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user. The vulnerability affects multiple version branches spanning 2015, 2017, and 2018 releases.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions as provided by Adobe's security bulletin. Prioritize updating systems that handle untrusted PDF documents.

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 Dc or Reader Dc is installed
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion' in PowerShell to list installed programs
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat Dc or Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc appears in the installed programs list
  2. Determine the exact version of Adobe Acrobat or Reader
    Navigate to the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\) and right-click the executable (Acrobat.exe or AcroRd32.exe) to view Properties > Details, or open the application and go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader
    Affected if The displayed version number matches one of the affected ranges: 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30418, 15.008.20082 through 18.011.20040, or 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30080
  3. Compare installed version against CVE affected ranges
    Using the version found in the previous step, verify whether it falls within any of the vulnerable version ranges provided in the CVE
    Affected if The installed version is greater than or equal to 15.006.30060 and less than or equal to 15.006.30418, OR greater than or equal to 15.008.20082 and less than or equal to 18.011.20040, OR greater than or equal to 17.011.30059 and less than or equal to 17.011.30080
  4. Assess exposure to untrusted PDF documents
    Determine if the system routinely opens PDF files from external or untrusted sources, or if Adobe Acrobat/Reader is set as the default PDF handler
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is the default PDF viewer or is used to open PDFs from external or untrusted sources

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat Dc or Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc is installed with a version number matching any of the three vulnerable ranges, especially if the application handles untrusted PDF documents.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 18.011.20040
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions as provided by Adobe's security bulletin. Prioritize updating systems that handle untrusted PDF documents.

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2018-12797 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