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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2018-12815

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 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

A use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader allows attackers to execute arbitrary code by accessing freed memory. The flaw affects versions 2018.011.20040 and earlier, 2017.011.30080 and earlier, and 2015.006.30418 and earlier, enabling code execution in the context of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched version to remediate this critical vulnerability.

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 DC or Reader DC is installed
    Check for the executable at common installation paths: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exe. On macOS, check /Applications/Adobe Acrobat DC or /Applications/Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.
    Affected if Either Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is found on the system
  2. Determine the installed version number
    Open Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or About Adobe Reader). Alternatively, right-click the executable file, select Properties, and check the Details tab for the Product Version. On Windows, also check the registry key: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\Version (or HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\Version for 32-bit on 64-bit).
    Affected if A version number is obtained from the product
  3. Compare installed version against affected ranges
    Match the installed version to the affected ranges: 2018.011.20040 and earlier, 2017.011.30080 and earlier, or 2015.006.30418 and earlier. For Acrobat DC and Reader DC versions 15.x, check if version is >= 15.006.30060 and <= 15.006.30418, or >= 15.008.20082 and <= 18.011.20040. For version 17.x, check if >= 17.011.30059 and <= 17.011.30080.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of the specified affected version ranges (15.006.30060 through 15.006.30418, 15.008.20082 through 18.011.20040, or 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30080)

If Adobe Acrobat DC or Reader DC is installed and the version number matches any of the affected ranges (2015.006.30418 and earlier, 2017.011.30080 and earlier, or 2018.011.20040 and earlier), the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2018-12815.

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

Update Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched version to remediate this critical vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader 2015.006.30419+, 2017.011.30090+, or 2018.011.20050+ (depending on your product line)

  1. 1. Verify the current Adobe Acrobat or Reader version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader
  2. 2. Determine which product line (2015, 2017, or 2018) is installed based on the version number
  3. 3. For Adobe Acrobat/Reader 2015.006.30418 and earlier: Upgrade to version 2015.006.30419 or later
  4. 4. For Adobe Acrobat/Reader 2017.011.30080 and earlier: Upgrade to version 2017.011.30090 or later
  5. 5. For Adobe Acrobat/Reader 2018.011.20040 and earlier: Upgrade to version 2018.011.20050 or later
  6. 6. Download the appropriate update from the official Adobe website or use the application's built-in update feature (Help > Check for Updates)
  7. 7. Install the update and restart the application
  8. 8. Verify the version has been updated to a fixed release
Caveat Standard minor version update; no significant breaking changes expected; ensure compatibility with existing PDF workflows and plugins

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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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-2018-12815 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