CVE-2018-4894
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 XPS font processing. 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 XPS font processing component. The vulnerability occurs when the software reads data past the end of a target buffer during XPS font processing, potentially exposing sensitive data to an attacker.
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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Confirm Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installedOpen the application and go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or Acrobat), or check Add/Remove Programs in Windows Control PanelAffected if Any version of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed
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Identify the exact product versionNote the full version number shown in Help > About (for example: 15.006.30345 or 17.011.30070 or 18.009.20050)Affected if The full version number cannot be determined or the product is unpatched
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Check if the installed version falls within the affected 2015 (15.x) rangeCompare the installed version: if it starts with 15.0 and is <= 15.006.30394, then it is affectedAffected if Version is 15.0.x.x through 15.006.30394 inclusive
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Check if the installed version falls within the affected 2017 (17.x) rangeCompare the installed version: if it starts with 17.0 and is <= 17.011.30070, then it is affectedAffected if Version is 17.0.x.x through 17.011.30070 inclusive
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Check if the installed version falls within the affected 2018 (18.x) rangeCompare the installed version: if it starts with 18.0 and is <= 18.009.20050, then it is affectedAffected if Version is 18.0.x.x through 18.009.20050 inclusive
The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed with a version number in any of these ranges: 15.0 through 15.006.30394, 17.0 through 17.011.30070, or 18.0 through 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 dataApply the vendor-supplied security update from Adobe for the affected Acrobat Reader versions (2018.009.20050 and earlier, 2017.011.30070 and earlier, 2015.006.30394 and earlier).
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-4894 — 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-2018-4894 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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