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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2018-12855

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 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 · high confidence

This is a buffer errors vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader affecting versions 2018.011.20063 and earlier, 2017.011.30102 and earlier, and 2015.006.30452 and earlier. The buffer overflow allows successful exploitation to achieve arbitrary code execution on the target system.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions released after this vulnerability. Deploy via enterprise patch management or manual update on affected endpoints.

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 Settings, go to Apps and Features, and look for 'Adobe Acrobat' or 'Adobe Acrobat Reader'. On macOS, check the Applications folder. Alternatively, run: Windows: Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*' | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like '*Adobe*Acrobat*'} | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion; macOS: ls /Applications | grep -i adobe
    Affected if Either Adobe Acrobat Dc or Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc is present on the system
  2. Determine the exact installed version of Adobe Acrobat
    Right-click the Adobe Acrobat shortcut or executable, select Properties, and check the Details tab for the product version. Alternatively, open Adobe Acrobat, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat. On Windows, also check: (Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\InstallProperties').ProductVersion
    Affected if The displayed version falls within these ranges: 15.006.30060 to 15.006.30452, 15.008.20082 to 18.011.20063, or 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30102
  3. Determine the exact installed version of Adobe Acrobat Reader
    Open Adobe Acrobat Reader, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader. On Windows, check: (Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader\DC\InstallProperties').ProductVersion. On macOS: defaults read /Applications/Adobe\ Acrobat\ Reader\DC.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionString
    Affected if The displayed version falls within these ranges: 15.006.30060 to 15.006.30452, 15.008.20082 to 18.011.20063, or 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30102
  4. Identify the product track (Continuous vs Classic)
    In Adobe Acrobat or Reader, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader. The version string typically shows 'DC' for Continuous track or 'Classic' indicator. On Windows, check registry: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\InstallProperties - look for 'Mode' or compare path: 'C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC' vs 'Acrobat 2015'/'Acrobat 2017'
    Affected if Product is Adobe Acrobat Dc or Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc with version in the affected ranges, regardless of track

The system is affected if Adobe Acrobat Dc or Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc is installed with version 2018.011.20063 and earlier, 2017.011.30102 and earlier, or 2015.006.30452 and earlier.

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 released after this vulnerability. Deploy via enterprise patch management or manual update on affected endpoints.

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

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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-2018-12855 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