CVE-2018-4900
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 JavaScript manipulation of an Annotation object. 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 confidenceAdobe Acrobat Reader contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in the JavaScript API for manipulating Annotation objects. The vulnerability allows a specially crafted PDF to trigger a read operation past the end of a target buffer, potentially exposing sensitive memory contents 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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Identify installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader versionOpen Adobe Acrobat/Reader, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat). The version number displayed (e.g., 17.011.30070) is the installed version.Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: 17.0 to 17.011.30070, 18.0 to 18.009.20050, or 15.0 to 15.006.30394.
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Confirm product type is affectedVerify whether the installed product is Adobe Acrobat Standard, Acrobat Pro, Acrobat Reader, or Acrobat Reader DC. All four variants are affected.Affected if The product is any edition of Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader within the affected version ranges.
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Check if JavaScript for PDF is enabledIn Adobe Reader/Acrobat, go to Edit > Preferences > JavaScript. Verify if 'Enable Adobe JavaScript' is checked.Affected if JavaScript is enabled, as the vulnerability exploits the JavaScript API for Annotation objects.
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Locate the application executable for version verificationOn Windows, right-click the Adobe shortcut, select Properties, and view the file path. Common paths: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat <version>\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe or C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exeAffected if The executable version matches an affected version number from the ranges listed.
If the installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader version falls within 17.0-17.011.30070, 18.0-18.009.20050, or 15.0-15.006.30394 AND JavaScript is enabled, the environment is affected by CVE-2018-4900.
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 the latest patched version. For enterprise environments, deploy the update via patch management systems and verify successful installation.
- Consultation4.0 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-2018-4900 — 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-2018-4900 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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