CVE-2018-12841
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 2018.011.20063 and earlier, 2017.011.30102 and earlier, and 2015.006.30452 and earlier have a double 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 · high confidenceThis is a double free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader. A double free occurs when memory that has already been freed is freed again, leading to heap corruption. Attackers can exploit this memory corruption to achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.
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, <= 15.006.30452>= 15.008.20082, <= 18.011.20063>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30102>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30452>= 15.008.20082, <= 18.011.20063>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30102CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installedCheck for Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC on the system. On Windows, look in Add/Remove Programs or check registry keys under HKLM\Software\Adobe\Acrobat. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Acrobat.app or Adobe Acrobat Reader.app.Affected if If neither product is installed, this CVE does not apply.
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Determine the exact installed versionOpen Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or About Adobe Reader). Record the version number and build identifier displayed in the dialog.Affected if The version must be captured precisely to compare against the affected ranges.
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Compare version against affected rangesCompare your recorded version to the following affected ranges: 15.006.30060 to 15.006.30452; 15.008.20082 to 18.011.20063; 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30102. Check if your version falls within any of these inclusive ranges.Affected if You are affected if your installed version falls within any of these three version ranges.
Your environment is vulnerable if Adobe Acrobat DC or Reader DC is installed and the installed version number falls within any of the specified affected ranges.
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 appropriate Adobe security patch for your version (2018.011.20065 or later for 2018.x, 2017.011.30103 or later for 2017.x, 2015.006.30453 or later for 2015.x). Prioritize patching systems that handle untrusted PDF documents.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-12841 — 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-2018-12841 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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- 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
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