CVE-2018-5036
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 · uneditedAdobe Acrobat and Reader 2018.011.20040 and earlier, 2017.011.30080 and earlier, and 2015.006.30418 and earlier versions have a Heap Overflow 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 confidenceHeap overflow vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader allows arbitrary code execution in the current user's context. The vulnerability exists in multiple older versions (2015.x, 2017.x, 2018.x) and can be triggered by malicious PDF documents.
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>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30418>= 15.008.20082, <= 18.011.20040>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30080>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30418>= 15.008.20082, <= 18.011.20040>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30080CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installedOn Windows, open Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select DisplayName, DisplayVersion' in PowerShell to list installed softwareAffected if Adobe Acrobat Dc or Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc appears in the installed programs list
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Determine the exact installed version of Adobe Acrobat DcLocate the Acrobat installation directory (commonly C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat Dc\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe), right-click the executable, select Properties, and view the Version tab. Alternatively, run 'Get-ItemProperty "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat Dc\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe" | Select FileVersion' in PowerShellAffected if The version falls within any of these ranges: 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30418, 15.008.20082 through 18.011.20040, or 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30080
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Determine the exact installed version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DcLocate the Reader installation directory (commonly C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat Reader Dc\Reader\AcroRd32.exe), right-click the executable, select Properties, and view the Version tab. Alternatively, run 'Get-ItemProperty "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat Reader Dc\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" | Select FileVersion' in PowerShellAffected if The version falls within any of these ranges: 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30418, 15.008.20082 through 18.011.20040, or 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30080
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Check the product name in Windows RegistryRun 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat DC\InstallProperties -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select ProductName, ProductVersion' for Acrobat, or use the same path replacing 'Acrobat' with 'Acrobat Reader' for ReaderAffected if The ProductName matches Adobe Acrobat Dc or Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc AND the ProductVersion matches any of the affected version ranges
The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat Dc or Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc is installed with a version number matching any of the three vulnerable ranges: 15.006.30060-15.006.30418, 15.008.20082-18.011.20040, or 17.011.30059-17.011.30080
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 and Reader to versions newer than 2018.011.20040, 2017.011.30080, or 2015.006.30418 respectively, or apply the vendor-supplied patches.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-5036 — 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-2018-5036 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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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.
- 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