dbcve.org
Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2018-5069

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 an Out-of-bounds write 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

This is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader that allows writing data beyond allocated memory boundaries. Successful exploitation enables arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. The vulnerability affects multiple older version ranges across 2015, 2017, and 2018 product lines.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the patched versions provided by Adobe's security bulletin. Given the critical severity (CVSS 9.8) and network-exploitable nature, priority should be given to patching all affected systems.

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 products
    Check system for Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Reader DC installation. On Windows, check C:\Program Files\Adobe\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\ for Acrobat or Reader folders, or use system inventory tools.
    Affected if Either Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Reader DC is present on the system
  2. Determine Adobe Acrobat DC version
    Open Adobe Acrobat DC, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat DC to view the exact version number. Alternatively, check the file properties of the Acrobat.exe file or query the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\Version.
    Affected if The 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
  3. Determine Adobe Reader DC version
    Open Adobe Reader DC, go to Help > About Adobe Reader DC to view the exact version number. Alternatively, check the file properties of the AcroRd32.exe file or query the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader\DC\Version.
    Affected if The 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

A system is affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Reader DC is installed and its version number matches any of the three vulnerable version ranges listed in the CVE.

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

Update Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the patched versions provided by Adobe's security bulletin. Given the critical severity (CVSS 9.8) and network-exploitable nature, priority should be given to patching all affected systems.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader 2015.006.30419+, 2017.011.30081+, or 2018.011.20041+ (depending on which version line is in use)

  1. 1. Verify the currently installed Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC version by opening the application, selecting 'Help' > 'About Adobe Acrobat' or 'About Adobe Reader'
  2. 2. Identify which version family your installation belongs to (2015, 2017, or 2018) based on the version number shown
  3. 3. For Acrobat DC/Acrobat Reader DC Classic version 15.x: upgrade to version 15.006.30419 or later
  4. 4. For Acrobat DC/Acrobat Reader DC Continuous version 15.x: upgrade to version 15.008.20083 or later
  5. 5. For Acrobat DC/Acrobat Reader DC Continuous version 17.x: upgrade to version 17.011.30081 or later
  6. 6. For Acrobat DC/Acrobat Reader DC Continuous version 18.x: upgrade to version 18.011.20041 or later
  7. 7. Download the appropriate fixed version from the official Adobe website at https://get.adobe.com/reader/ or https://get.adobe.com/acrobat/
  8. 8. Close all instances of Adobe Acrobat or Reader before running the installer
Caveat Minor: Ensure compatibility with any existing PDF plugins or workflows;acrobat upgrades typically preserve user settings

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

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-5069 — 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-2018-5069 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