CVE-2018-12822
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 Digital Editions versions 4.5.8 and below have an use after free vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution.
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 Digital Editions versions 4.5.8 and below contain a use-after-free vulnerability where memory is accessed after being freed, potentially allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code via carefully crafted malicious content.
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<= 4.5.8CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Adobe Digital Editions is installedCheck for the presence of Digital Editions in the system. On Windows, look for 'C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Digital Editions' or 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Digital Editions'. The executable is typically named 'Digital Editions.exe' or 'ADE.exe'.Affected if The application is not found on the system, then it is not affected.
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Locate the Digital Editions executable version infoOn Windows, right-click the Digital Editions executable file, select 'Properties', then go to the 'Details' tab to read the 'File version' or 'Product version' field. Alternatively, open a command prompt, navigate to the installation directory, and run: wmic datafile where name='C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Digital Editions\Digital Editions.exe' get VersionAffected if This step identifies the installed version number needed for the next check.
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Compare installed version against affected rangeCompare the version number found in step 2 to the affected range: any version 4.5.8 or lower is vulnerable. Version 4.5.8 itself is included in the affected range. Versions newer than 4.5.8 are not affected.Affected if The installed version is 4.5.8 or any earlier version (for example, 4.5.7, 4.5.6, 4.5.5, etc.).
A user is affected if Adobe Digital Editions version 4.5.8 or any earlier version is installed on the system.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade Adobe Digital Editions to a version newer than 4.5.8. Until patched, avoid opening untrusted EPUB or PDF files in Digital Editions.
Latest available Adobe Digital Editions version (newer than 4.5.8)
- 1. Close Adobe Digital Editions if currently running
- 2. Navigate to the official Adobe Digital Editions download page at https://www.adobe.com/solutions/ebook/digital-editions/download.html
- 3. Download the latest version of Adobe Digital Editions
- 4. Uninstall the current version through Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features or macOS Applications folder
- 5. Install the newly downloaded version
- 6. Verify the installed version by going to Help > About Digital Editions
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-12822 — 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-2018-12822 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