CVE-2018-4904
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 is an instance of a heap overflow vulnerability. The vulnerability is triggered by crafted TIFF data within an XPS file, which causes an out of bounds memory access. 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 confidenceHeap overflow vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader triggered by crafted TIFF data embedded within an XPS file, causing out-of-bounds memory access that could lead to data corruption or arbitrary code execution.
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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Identify Adobe Acrobat/Reader installationOpen Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat). Alternatively, right-click the executable in Program Files/Adobe and view Properties > Details to see the version.Affected if The version shown is within any of these ranges: 17.0 to 17.011.30070, 15.0 to 15.006.30394, or up to 18.009.20050.
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Verify exact product and version numberNote the full version number displayed (for example, 17.011.30070 or 15.006.30394). Compare this against the affected version ranges specified in the CVE.Affected if The installed version falls within 17.0 through 17.011.30070, 15.0 through 15.006.30394, or any version up to and including 18.009.20050.
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Confirm XPS file handling is enabledBy default, Adobe Acrobat Reader opens XPS files when they are double-clicked in Windows Explorer. To verify, try opening any XPS file in the application or check File > Open to confirm XPS is an accepted file type.Affected if The application can open XPS files, meaning the XPS parsing module is active and the vulnerability can be triggered.
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Check if the system processes XPS documentsSearch the system for any existing XPS files or check recent documents in Adobe Reader to see if XPS files have been opened.Affected if The system has a history of opening XPS files, indicating the attack surface is present.
You are affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat is installed with a version number within the ranges 17.0 to 17.011.30070, 15.0 to 15.006.30394, or up to 18.009.20050, and the application is capable of opening XPS files.
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 a version newer than 2018.009.20050, 2017.011.30070, or 2015.006.30394 respectively, depending on the product line in use.
- Consultation2.0 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-2018-4904 — 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-2018-4904 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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