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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2018-4908

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 TTF font processing in the XPS module. 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 confidence

This is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader where the TTF font parsing logic in the XPS module reads data beyond the allocated buffer boundary. The flaw can be triggered by a specially crafted XPS document containing malicious embedded fonts, potentially allowing an attacker to read sensitive memory contents.

MitigationDeploy the Adobe security update for affected Acrobat Reader versions (2018.009.20050+, 2017.011.30070+, 2015.006.30394+). Until patched, avoid opening untrusted XPS documents from unknown sources.

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 installation
    Check if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed on the system by looking in Program Files (Windows) or /Applications (Mac) for Acrobat or Reader folders, or check the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe or HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Adobe
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed
  2. Check installed version number
    Open Adobe Acrobat/Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat) to display the exact version number, or check the Windows Registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat\Version for the version value
    Affected if The version falls within any of these ranges: 17.0 through 17.011.30070, 15.0 through 15.006.30394, or any version up to 18.009.20050 (for DC variants)
  3. Identify vulnerable component
    Confirm that the XPS module is available by checking for the XPS filter or XPS parsing capability in the installation directory (typically in the plugin or plug_ins folder)
    Affected if The XPS module is present and functional in the installed Adobe product
  4. Confirm XPS document handling exposure
    Check if the user opens or processes XPS documents using Adobe Acrobat/Reader, as this is the attack vector that triggers the vulnerable TTF font parsing code path
    Affected if The system is used to open or process XPS documents, particularly from untrusted sources

If Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader is installed with a version within the affected ranges (17.x up to 17.011.30070, 15.x up to 15.006.30394, or DC versions up to 18.009.20050) and the XPS module can be used to open XPS documents, the environment is potentially affected by CVE-2018-4908.

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

Deploy the Adobe security update for affected Acrobat Reader versions (2018.009.20050+, 2017.011.30070+, 2015.006.30394+). Until patched, avoid opening untrusted XPS documents from unknown sources.

Fix this in Acrobat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2018-4908 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