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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2018-12851

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-10-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 18.011.20063 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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 versions 2018.011.20063 and earlier, 2017.011.30102 and earlier, and 2015.006.30452 and earlier have a heap overflow 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

A heap overflow vulnerability exists in Adobe Acrobat and Reader versions 2018.011.20063 and earlier, 2017.011.30102 and earlier, and 2015.006.30452 and earlier. The vulnerability allows attackers to overflow heap memory buffers, potentially achieving arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions provided by Adobe. Deploy the updates organization-wide using enterprise patch management tools.

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, <= 15.006.30452>= 15.008.20082, <= 18.011.20063>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30102
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30452>= 15.008.20082, <= 18.011.20063>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30102

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    Open Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or use PowerShell: Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*' | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like '*Adobe*Acrobat*' -or $_.DisplayName -like '*Adobe*Reader*'}
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat Dc or Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc appears in the installed programs list
  2. Determine the installed Adobe product version
    In Programs and Features, note the exact version number displayed next to Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. Alternatively, right-click the Adobe executable in Program Files > Properties > Details to view the Product Version.
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or shows as unknown
  3. Compare installed version against affected ranges
    Check if the installed version matches any of these patterns: 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30452, 15.008.20082 through 18.011.20063, or 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30102. Also treat any 2015.x version at or below 15.006.30452, any 2017.x at or below 17.011.30102, or any 2018.x at or below 2018.011.20063 as affected.
    Affected if Installed version falls within any of the listed version ranges or is equal to/older than 2018.011.20063, 2017.011.30102, or 2015.006.30452
  4. Confirm product channel version (Continuous vs. Classic)
    Adobe Acrobat DC Continuous versions use the 18.x or 20.x numbering (for 2018 and 2020 releases). Classic versions use 15.x and 17.x. Check the product name in Programs and Features for 'Acrobat DC' (Continuous) or 'Acrobat 2015/2017' (Classic).
    Affected if Running Continuous version 18.x at or below 18.011.20063, or Classic versions 15.x/17.x within the affected ranges

The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Continuous or Classic is installed with any version at or below 2018.011.20063 (Continuous) or the 15.006.30060-15.006.30452, 15.008.20082-18.011.20063, or 17.011.30059-17.011.30102 ranges (Classic).

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 18.011.20063
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions provided by Adobe. Deploy the updates organization-wide using enterprise patch management tools.

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

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-2018-12851 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