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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2018-5009

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-07-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 18.011.20040 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
Adobe Acrobat and Reader 2018.011.20040 and earlier, 2017.011.30080 and earlier, and 2015.006.30418 and earlier versions have a Use-after-free vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.

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

Adobe Acrobat and Reader contain a use-after-free vulnerability where memory is accessed after being freed, leading to memory corruption. This can be exploited via malicious PDF files to achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied security patches immediately to upgrade Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest versions. Until patches are applied, restrict handling of untrusted PDF documents and disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader/Acrobat.

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
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30418>= 15.008.20082, <= 18.011.20040>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30080
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30418>= 15.008.20082, <= 18.011.20040>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30080

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Adobe product
    Open Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader) to display the version number and build. Alternatively, check the executable file properties of AcroRd32.exe or AcroPDF.exe in the program files directory.
    Affected if The installed product is Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
  2. Determine exact version and build number
    Note the version displayed in the About dialog (for example, 15.x.xxxx or 17.x.xxxx) and the build number (for example, xxxxxxxx). The full version string typically appears as something like 15.008.20082 or 17.011.30080.
    Affected if The exact version cannot be determined from the About dialog or file properties
  3. Compare against affected version ranges
    Check if the installed version falls within any of these ranges: 15.006.30060 to 15.006.30418, 15.008.20082 to 18.011.20040, or 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30080. Any version within these inclusive ranges is affected.
    Affected if The installed version number is greater than or equal to the lower bound AND less than or equal to the upper bound of any affected range listed

A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed with a version number and build falling within one of the three affected version ranges specified in the CVE advisory.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 18.011.20040
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied security patches immediately to upgrade Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest versions. Until patches are applied, restrict handling of untrusted PDF documents and disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader/Acrobat.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC 2018.011.20041 or later; 2017.011.30081 or later; 2015.006.30419 or later (or migrate to continuous track for latest updates)

  1. 1. Determine the currently installed Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC version by opening the application, selecting Help > About Adobe Acrobat DC (or About Adobe Acrobat Reader DC)
  2. 2. Note the version number and compare against the vulnerable version ranges: 15.006.30060 to 15.006.30418, 15.008.20082 to 18.011.20040, and 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30080
  3. 3. If the installed version is within any of these vulnerable ranges, proceed with the upgrade
  4. 4. Download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC from the official Adobe website at https://get.adobe.com/reader/ (for Reader) or https://get.adobe.com/acrobat/ (for Acrobat)
  5. 5. Close all Adobe applications before running the installer
  6. 6. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation
  7. 7. After installation, verify the new version by checking Help > About to confirm the version is newer than 2018.011.20040 (for 2018 track), 2017.011.30080 (for 2017 track), or 2015.006.30418 (for 2015 track)
Caveat Standard upgrade - no significant breaking changes expected for security patch updates; ensure compatibility with other software in the environment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2018-5009 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