CVE-2018-4898
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. The vulnerability is caused by the computation that writes data past the end of the intended buffer; the computation is part of the XPS engine that adds vector graphics and images to a fixed page. An attacker can potentially leverage the vulnerability to corrupt sensitive data or execute arbitrary code.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader's XPS engine that handles vector graphics and image rendering in fixed pages. The computation writes data past the end of the intended buffer, potentially allowing attackers to corrupt sensitive data or execute arbitrary code.
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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 Reader or Acrobat is installedCheck for the presence of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC in Start Menu, or check the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exe for Reader, or C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe for Pro)Affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat software is present on the system
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Determine installed version of Adobe Acrobat ReaderRight-click AcroRd32.exe, select Properties, and check the File Version field under the Details tab. Alternatively, open Adobe Reader and go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader to display the version numberAffected if The displayed version falls within any of these ranges: 17.0 to 17.011.30070, 15.0 to 15.006.30394, or any version up to 18.009.20050 for DC variants
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Determine installed version of Adobe Acrobat Pro (if installed)Right-click Acrobat.exe in the installation folder, select Properties, and check the File Version under Details. Alternatively, check the Windows Registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\Version for DC or similar path for legacy versionsAffected if The displayed version falls within any of these ranges: 17.0 to 17.011.30070, 15.0 to 15.006.30394, or any version up to 18.009.20050 for DC variants
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Confirm the XPS plugin is present and loadedIn Adobe Reader/Acrobat, go to Edit > Preferences > Security (Enhanced) and verify XPS functionality is available. Also check for the presence of XPS2PDF.ax or similar XPS handling DLL in the installation folder under the plug_ins directoryAffected if The XPS plugin/module (XPS2PDF.ax or equivalent) exists in the installation directory and is accessible to the application
The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, Adobe Acrobat DC, or legacy Adobe Acrobat/Reader versions are installed and the version number falls within 15.0 to 15.006.30394, 17.0 to 17.011.30070, or up to 18.009.20050 for DC versions, with the XPS rendering engine enabled.
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 vendor-supplied patches for Adobe Acrobat Reader 2018.009.20050 and earlier, 2017.011.30070 and earlier, and 2015.006.30394 and earlier versions, or upgrade to the latest Adobe Acrobat Reader release.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation5.0 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-2018-4898 — 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-2018-4898 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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