CVE-2018-4883
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 because of computation that reads data that is past the end of the target buffer; the computation is part of the image conversion engine that handles Enhanced Metafile Format (EMF). 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 image conversion engine that processes Enhanced Metafile Format (EMF) files. The vulnerability allows reading past the end of a target buffer during image conversion, potentially exposing sensitive data from memory.
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>= -, <= 18.009.20050>= 15.0, <= 15.006.30394>= 17.0, <= 17.011.30070>= -, <= 18.009.20050>= 15.0, <= 15.006.30394CVSS 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 installed Adobe productOpen Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat, then go to Help > About (or About Adobe Acrobat Reader) to display the exact version number.Affected if The product is Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe Acrobat, or their DC variants.
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Compare version to affected rangesNote the full version number displayed (for example, 17.011.30070 or 18.009.20050). Compare it against these affected ranges: 17.0 through 17.011.30070, 15.0 through 15.006.30394, and versions up to 18.009.20050.Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges.
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Verify EMF file handling capabilityConfirm that the installation includes the image conversion functionality for Enhanced Metafile Format (EMF) files. This is included by default in standard Acrobat installations.Affected if The image conversion engine for EMF files is present and enabled.
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Check for user-triggered processingThe vulnerability triggers when an affected version opens or processes an EMF file through the image conversion engine. Inspect recent document access logs or user activity for EMF file handling.Affected if Users have opened or converted EMF files using the affected application.
If the installed Acrobat Reader or Acrobat version falls within 17.0-17.011.30070, 15.0-15.006.30394, or up to 18.009.20050, and the application processes EMF files, the environment is vulnerable to out-of-bounds read via CVE-2018-4883.
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-provided security update from Adobe for the affected Acrobat Reader versions (2018.x, 2017.x, 2015.x) to patch the vulnerable EMF image conversion component.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-4883 — 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-2018-4883 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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