CVE-2018-12853
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 buffer errors 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 confidenceA buffer 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 buffer errors issue allows successful exploitation leading to 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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Confirm Adobe Acrobat or Reader installationOn Windows, open Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ and look for keys named 'Adobe Acrobat DC', 'Adobe Acrobat Reader DC', or similar Adobe products. Alternatively, run 'Get-ItemProperty' in PowerShell for the Acrobat installation path (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat)Affected if The software is not found in the system
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Retrieve installed product versionRight-click the executable file (Acrobat.exe or AcroRd32.exe) in the installation directory, select Properties, and view the File Version field on the Details tab. Or check the version in Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader within the applicationAffected if Unable to determine the version number from the application or executable properties
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Compare version against affected rangesMatch your installed version number (format: xx.xxx.xxxxx) to the following vulnerable ranges: 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30452; 15.008.20082 through 18.011.20063; 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30102. Note that version 2018.011.20063 and earlier, 2017.011.30102 and earlier, and 2015.006.30452 and earlier are all affectedAffected if Your installed version falls within or below any of these ranges: 15.006.30452, 18.011.20063, or 17.011.30102
If Adobe Acrobat DC or Acrobat Reader DC is installed and the version is 2018.011.20063 or earlier, 2017.011.30102 or earlier, or 2015.006.30452 or earlier, your environment is affected by this vulnerability.
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 dataUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions provided by Adobe security bulletins to remediate this vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-12853 — 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-2018-12853 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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