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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2018-12848

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-09-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 18.011.20058 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 versions 2018.011.20058 and earlier, 2017.011.30099 and earlier, and 2015.006.30448 and earlier have an out-of-bounds write 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 confidence

This is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader that allows writing data beyond allocated buffer boundaries. Successful exploitation enables an attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the targeted user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions released after this vulnerability. In enterprise environments, test the update thoroughly before broad deployment to ensure compatibility with existing document workflows.

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, <= 15.006.30448>= 15.008.20082, <= 18.011.20058>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30099
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30448>= 15.008.20082, <= 18.011.20058>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30099

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. Identify the installed Adobe product
    Open Adobe Acrobat or Reader and go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader). Alternatively, right-click the application executable and select Properties to view version information.
    Affected if The installed product is Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (Classic and Continuous tracks)
  2. Determine the exact version number
    Note the full version number displayed in the About dialog. The version format is typically XX.XXX.XXXXX (for example, 15.006.30060 or 18.011.20058).
    Affected if The version falls within any of the three vulnerable ranges: 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30448, 15.008.20082 through 18.011.20058, or 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30099
  3. Verify the product track type
    Check if the installation is the Continuous track (updates automatically) or Classic track. This can be determined from the version number prefix: 15.x versions are Classic track, 17.x and 18.x versions are Continuous track.
    Affected if The version is within the ranges above for either track
  4. Confirm product variant
    Verify whether the installation is Acrobat DC (paid) or Acrobat Reader DC (free). Both variants are affected by this CVE.
    Affected if Either Acrobat DC or Acrobat Reader DC is installed with a version matching the affected ranges

The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Acrobat Reader DC (Classic or Continuous track) is installed with a version number matching any of these ranges: 15.006.30060-15.006.30448, 15.008.20082-18.011.20058, or 17.011.30059-17.011.30099.

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 18.011.20058
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions released after this vulnerability. In enterprise environments, test the update thoroughly before broad deployment to ensure compatibility with existing document workflows.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC 2015.006.30449 or later; 2017.011.30100 or later; 2018.011.20059 or later

  1. 1. Open Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader application
  2. 2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates to see current version
  3. 3. Download the appropriate fixed version for your product line: For 2015.x versions, upgrade to 2015.006.30449 or later; For 2017.x versions, upgrade to 2017.011.30100 or later; For 2018.x versions, upgrade to 2018.011.20059 or later
  4. 4. Run the installer and follow prompts to complete the upgrade
  5. 5. Restart the application after installation
  6. 6. Verify the version by going to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC to confirm the version matches or exceeds the fixed version for your track
Caveat Adobe patches are generally backward compatible but ensure your workflow documents are saved before upgrading

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 / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2018-12848 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