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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2018-4889

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-02-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 18.009.20050 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 · unedited
An 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 XPS image conversion. 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 · moderate confidence

CVE-2018-4889 is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader's XPS image conversion component. The vulnerability occurs when the application processes XPS images, causing it to read data past the end of an allocated buffer. This can allow attackers to expose sensitive information from the system's memory. The vulnerability affects Acrobat Reader 2018.009.20050 and earlier, 2017.011.30070 and earlier, and 2015.006.30394 and earlier versions.

MitigationApply the vendor patch by updating Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than the affected versions listed (2018.009.20050, 2017.011.30070, 2015.006.30394). In enterprise environments, validate the update through controlled testing before broad deployment.

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
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 17.0, <= 17.011.30070
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:>= -, <= 18.009.20050>= 15.0, <= 15.006.30394
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 17.0, <= 17.011.30070
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= -, <= 18.009.20050>= 15.0, <= 15.006.30394

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Adobe Acrobat Reader installation
    Check for Adobe Acrobat Reader in the system: On Windows, look in C:\Program Files\Adobe\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\ for Acrobat Reader folders. On macOS, check /Applications/ for Adobe Acrobat Reader.app.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader is not installed on the system.
  2. Retrieve installed version number
    Open Adobe Acrobat Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader. Alternatively, on Windows, check the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\[Version]\InstallPath, or right-click the executable in Program Files and view Properties > Details.
    Affected if The version cannot be determined or the product is not found.
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Match the installed version number to the following affected ranges: 2018.009.20050 and earlier, 2017.011.30070 and earlier, 2015.006.30394 and earlier. Versions are structured as YYYY.MM.DDDDD (year.month.build number).
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: 15.0 to 15.006.30394, 17.0 to 17.011.30070, or up to 18.009.20050.
  4. Confirm XPS conversion component is present
    Adobe Acrobat Reader includes XPS support as a bundled component. Verify by attempting to open or convert an XPS file in the application, or check for the XPS filter in the application plugins folder (typically in the Reader\plug_ins directory).
    Affected if The XPS conversion component is removed or disabled, reducing the exploit surface but not eliminating the vulnerability from the base application.

The system is affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader (any variant including Reader DC) is installed with a version number at or below 18.009.20050, 17.011.30070, or 15.006.30394, and the XPS processing component is present.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 18.009.20050
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch by updating Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than the affected versions listed (2018.009.20050, 2017.011.30070, 2015.006.30394). In enterprise environments, validate the update through controlled testing before broad deployment.

Fix this in Acrobat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,570
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-4889 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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