CVE-2018-4909
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 image conversion module when processing metadata in JPEG images. 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 confidenceOut-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader's image conversion module when processing metadata in JPEG files. The vulnerability allows reading past the end of a target buffer, potentially exposing sensitive data.
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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Check installed Adobe Acrobat Reader versionOpen Adobe Acrobat Reader, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat for the full product). Note the exact version number displayed (e.g., 17.011.30070 or 18.009.20050).Affected if The installed 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). Compare your version against these ranges to determine if you are in the affected range.
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Identify the specific Adobe product variantDetermine whether you are using standard Adobe Acrobat/Reader or Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC. Check the product name in the Help > About dialog or the application title bar.Affected if The vulnerability affects different version numbers for standard Acrobat/Reader versus DC variants, so knowing the exact variant is required to interpret version checks correctly.
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Verify JPEG image handling is enabledIn Adobe Acrobat/Reader preferences (Edit > Preferences > Image Handling or similar), check if image conversion or rendering features are enabled. Look for settings related to JPEG handling, thumbnail generation, or image conversion.Affected if The vulnerability exists specifically in the image conversion module when processing JPEG metadata. If image handling features are disabled or not used, the attack surface is reduced.
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Check for recent JPEG processing activityReview Adobe Acrobat/Reader logs or recent document history for any JPEG files that have been opened or converted. Look in the application logs folder (typically in AppData/Adobe/Logs) for entries containing 'JPEG', 'image', or 'conversion'.Affected if If JPEG files have been recently processed, the vulnerable code path may have been executed. This helps confirm exposure beyond just version checking.
You are likely affected if your installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader version (including DC variants) falls within 17.0 to 17.011.30070, 15.0 to 15.006.30394, or up to 18.009.20050, and you process JPEG files with metadata using the image conversion module.
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 (depending on the release track) to obtain the vendor patch.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-4909 — 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-2018-4909 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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