CVE-2018-15945
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 confidenceAn out-of-bounds write 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 writing data beyond allocated memory boundaries, which can be leveraged for arbitrary code execution when a malicious PDF is opened.
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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Check if Adobe Acrobat DC is installedLook for Adobe Acrobat DC in the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC or check common installation paths such as C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DCAffected if Adobe Acrobat DC is found on the system
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Check if Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installedLook for Adobe Acrobat Reader DC in the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC or check common installation paths such as C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DCAffected if Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is found on the system
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Determine the installed version of Adobe Acrobat DCRead the version value from the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\InstallVersion, or right-click the acrobat.exe file and select Properties > Details to view the Product VersionAffected if The installed version falls within 15.006.30060 to 15.006.30452, 15.008.20082 to 18.011.20063, or 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30102
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Determine the installed version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DCRead the version value from the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC\InstallVersion, or right-click the AcroRd32.exe file and select Properties > Details to view the Product VersionAffected if The installed version falls within 15.006.30060 to 15.006.30452, 15.008.20082 to 18.011.20063, or 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30102
You are affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Acrobat Reader DC is installed and the installed version matches one of the affected version ranges: 15.006.30060-15.006.30452, 15.008.20082-18.011.20063, or 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 dataUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched version provided by Adobe's security bulletin. Users should apply the security update promptly to prevent exploitation via malicious PDF files.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-15945 — 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-2018-15945 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