dbcve.org
AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2018-4914

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 TIFF processing in the XPS engine. 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's TIFF processing functionality within the XPS engine. The vulnerability allows a computation to read data past the end of the target buffer, potentially exposing sensitive information from memory. Attackers can exploit this by tricking users into opening maliciously crafted PDF files containing specially crafted TIFF images.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version later than 2018.009.20050, 2017.011.30070, or 2015.006.30394 (depending on the product line). Adobe released patches for this vulnerability. Avoid opening untrusted PDF files from unknown sources until the update is applied.

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. Check Adobe Acrobat Reader installed version
    On Windows: Right-click the Adobe Acrobat Reader executable (acrord32.exe or acrord64.exe), select Properties, and view the Details tab for the Product Version. Alternatively, open Adobe Reader, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader. On macOS: Control-click the Adobe Reader app in Applications, select Get Info, and view the Version field.
    Affected if The installed version falls within 17.0 to 17.011.30070, or 15.0 to 15.006.30394, or up to 18.009.20050 (depending on the product line).
  2. Confirm the product type
    Verify whether the installed product is Adobe Acrobat Reader (standard) or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC by checking the application name in Help > About or the executable filename (acrord32 vs. acrordr).
    Affected if The product is Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC with a version in the affected ranges.
  3. Identify if PDFs with embedded TIFFs are processed
    Open a PDF file that contains an embedded TIFF image (check via File > Properties > Fonts/Resources, or use a PDF parsing tool). When the PDF opens, Adobe Reader processes the TIFF through its XPS rendering engine.
    Affected if The user opens PDF files containing TIFF images using an affected Adobe Reader version.

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed with a version between 15.0 and 15.006.30394, between 17.0 and 17.011.30070, or up to 18.009.20050, and you open PDF files containing specially crafted TIFF images.

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

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version later than 2018.009.20050, 2017.011.30070, or 2015.006.30394 (depending on the product line). Adobe released patches for this vulnerability. Avoid opening untrusted PDF files from unknown sources until the update is applied.

Fix this in Acrobat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-4914 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2018-4914 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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