CVE-2018-5045
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 attackers to overflow heap memory boundaries, corrupting adjacent data structures and potentially executing arbitrary code in the context of the current user. The vulnerability affects multiple version branches across 2015, 2017, and 2018 releases.
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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Identify installed Adobe productOpen Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader) to display the version dialog. Alternatively, on Windows check Add/Remove Programs or the application's executable properties.Affected if Either Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed
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Locate the version numberThe version displays in the About dialog as a three-part number (such as 17.011.30059). Note this exact version string.Affected if Version number cannot be determined or is not visible
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Check version against first affected rangeCompare your installed version to the range 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30418. If your version falls within this inclusive range, you are affected.Affected if Installed version is >= 15.006.30060 and <= 15.006.30418
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Check version against second affected rangeCompare your installed version to the range 15.008.20082 through 18.011.20040. If your version falls within this inclusive range, you are affected.Affected if Installed version is >= 15.008.20082 and <= 18.011.20040
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Check version against third affected rangeCompare your installed version to the range 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30080. If your version falls within this inclusive range, you are affected.Affected if Installed version is >= 17.011.30059 and <= 17.011.30080
The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Reader DC is installed with a version 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 dataApply vendor-supplied patches to update Adobe Acrobat and Reader to versions beyond 2018.011.20040, 2017.011.30080, or 2015.006.30418 respectively.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-5045 — 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-2018-5045 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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