CVE-2018-15968
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 read vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to information disclosure.
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 read vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader versions 2018.011.20063 and earlier, 2017.011.30102 and earlier, and 2015.006.30452 and earlier allows attackers to read memory outside allocated buffer boundaries, potentially exposing sensitive information.
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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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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Verify Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installedOn Windows, open Programs and Features (or Add or Remove Programs) and look for 'Adobe Acrobat DC' or 'Adobe Acrobat Reader DC'. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader.Affected if Neither Adobe Acrobat nor Adobe Reader is installed - the system is not affected.
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Identify the exact product versionIn Adobe Acrobat: go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat. In Adobe Reader: go to Help > About Adobe Reader. Note the full version number displayed (e.g., 15.006.30452, 17.011.30059, 18.011.20063).Affected if The product is installed but version cannot be determined - further investigation needed.
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Compare installed version against affected rangesMatch your version number to these ranges: 15.006.30060 to 15.006.30452, 15.008.20082 to 18.011.20063, or 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30102. If any part of your version falls within these ranges, you are affected.Affected if The installed version falls within any of the listed ranges - the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2018-15968.
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Confirm the product type (Acrobat vs Reader)Ensure you identified whether you have Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, as both are affected with identical version ranges.Affected if Either product type is present at a vulnerable version - the system is affected.
A system is affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed with a version matching any of these 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 versions newer than 2018.011.20063, 2017.011.30102, and 2015.006.30452 respectively, or apply the latest security patches from Adobe.
- Consultation1.0 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-2018-15968 — 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-2018-15968 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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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.
- 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