CVE-2018-15936
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 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 confidenceAdobe Acrobat and Reader versions 2018.011.20063 and earlier, 2017.011.30102 and earlier, and 2015.006.30452 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds write vulnerability. An attacker can exploit this by tricking a user into opening a malicious PDF file, potentially allowing 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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Identify installed Adobe productOpen Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader) to view the version number. Alternatively, navigate to the installation directory and check the properties of the executable file.Affected if Any version of Adobe Acrobat Dc or Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc is installed
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Extract the full version numberNote the complete version string displayed (for example, 18.011.20063 or 15.006.30452). The version format is YY.NN.XXXXX where YY is the year release and XXXXX is the specific build number.Affected if Version cannot be determined or is not visible
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Check version against affected Classic track rangesCompare your version to these affected ranges: 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30452, 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30102, or 15.008.20082 through 18.011.20063. Look at the second and third numeric segments of your version number.Affected if Installed version falls within any of these ranges: 15.006.30060-15.006.30452, 15.008.20082-18.011.20063, or 17.011.30059-17.011.30102
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Confirm product variant (Continuous vs Classic)In the About dialog, determine if the product is 'Adobe Acrobat Dc' or 'Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc' and identify if it is the Continuous track or Classic track. The version ranges differ between these tracks.Affected if Product is Adobe Acrobat Dc or Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc with a version matching the affected ranges
A user is affected if they have Adobe Acrobat Dc or Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc installed with a version matching any of the specified affected ranges (15.006.30060-15.006.30452, 15.008.20082-18.011.20063, 17.011.30059-17.011.30102).
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 vendor-released security updates for Adobe Acrobat and Reader. Users should avoid opening untrusted PDF files until the patches are deployed.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,848.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-15936 — 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-2018-15936 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data