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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2018-5035

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-07-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 18.011.20040 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
Adobe Acrobat and Reader 2018.011.20040 and earlier, 2017.011.30080 and earlier, and 2015.006.30418 and earlier versions have an Out-of-bounds read vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to information disclosure.

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 · moderate confidence

This is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader affecting versions 2015.006.30418 and earlier, 2017.011.30080 and earlier, and 2018.011.20040 and earlier. The vulnerability occurs during file parsing operations and allows an attacker to read memory beyond allocated boundaries, potentially exposing sensitive information. Exploitation typically requires tricking a user into opening a maliciously crafted PDF file.

MitigationDeploy the appropriate Adobe security update for the affected Acrobat/Reader version. Prioritize patching endpoint systems that handle untrusted PDF documents, and consider implementing additional controls such as disabling JavaScript in Acrobat Reader and using enterprise email filtering to reduce exposure to malicious PDF files.

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
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. Locate Adobe Acrobat or Reader installation
    On Windows, check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\Version or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Reader\DC\Version. On macOS, right-click the application in /Applications and select Get Info to view the version.
    Affected if The product is Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
  2. Identify the exact version number
    Read the Version value from the registry (Windows) or Get Info window (macOS). The version will be in format like 15.x.x.x, 17.x.x.x, or 18.x.x.x corresponding to the 2015, 2017, and 2018 product lines respectively.
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or does not match expected Adobe version numbering
  3. Compare against affected version ranges
    For version 15.x: check if version <= 15.006.30418. For version 17.x: check if version <= 17.011.30080. For version 18.x: check if version <= 18.011.20040. All three ranges are vulnerable.
    Affected if Installed version falls within any of these ranges: 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30418, 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30080, or 15.008.20082 through 18.011.20040
  4. Confirm product variant and build
    Verify whether the installed product is Adobe Acrobat DC (paid) or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (free) by checking the product name in the registry or application information. Both variants are affected.
    Affected if Product is Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC within the vulnerable version ranges

A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC version falls within 15.006.30060-15.006.30418, 17.011.30059-17.011.30080, or 15.008.20082-18.011.20040, and the application is used to open untrusted PDF files.

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 18.011.20040
Interim mitigation

Deploy the appropriate Adobe security update for the affected Acrobat/Reader version. Prioritize patching endpoint systems that handle untrusted PDF documents, and consider implementing additional controls such as disabling JavaScript in Acrobat Reader and using enterprise email filtering to reduce exposure to malicious PDF files.

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
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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-2018-5035 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