CVE-2018-4882
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in Adobe Acrobat Reader 2018.009.20050 and earlier versions, 2017.011.30070 and earlier versions, 2015.006.30394 and earlier versions. This vulnerability occurs as a result of computation that reads data that is past the end of the target buffer; the computation is part of the string literal parser. A successful attack can lead to sensitive data exposure.
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 confidenceThis is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader's string literal parser. The vulnerability occurs when the parser reads data past the end of a target buffer during string processing, potentially exposing sensitive memory contents. A successful exploit requires the victim to open a maliciously crafted PDF file.
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>= 17.0, <= 17.011.30070>= 15.0, <= 15.006.30394>= 18.0, <= 18.009.20050>= 17.0, <= 17.011.30070>= 15.0, <= 15.006.30394>= 18.0, <= 18.009.20050CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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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Identify the installed Adobe productCheck if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed, and whether it is the Classic or DC version. Look in the application menu (Help > About) or check Program Files for the product name.Affected if The product is Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat (Classic or DC) within the affected version ranges
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Determine the exact installed versionOpen the application and go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or Acrobat). Note the exact version number displayed (for example: 17.011.30070, 15.006.30394, or 18.009.20050).Affected if The displayed version falls within any of these ranges: 17.0 to 17.011.30070, 15.0 to 15.006.30394, or 18.0 to 18.009.20050
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Verify the version against affected rangesCompare your installed version number to the affected ranges. For Adobe Acrobat DC: versions 15.x through 15.006.30394 and 18.x through 18.009.20050 are affected. For Classic/Acrobat: versions 17.x through 17.011.30070 are affected.Affected if Your installed version is greater than or equal to the lower bound AND less than or equal to the upper bound of any affected range listed
You are affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader or Acrobat (Classic or DC) is installed with a version between 15.0 and 15.006.30394, between 17.0 and 17.011.30070, or between 18.0 and 18.009.20050.
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 Reader to a version newer than 2018.009.20050, 2017.011.30070, or 2015.006.30394 respectively, as patches are available from Adobe. Avoid opening untrusted PDF files until updates are applied.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-4882 — 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-2018-4882 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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