# CVE-2018-4890: Memory corruption in Adobe Acrobat Reader 2018.009.20050 and earlier versions, 2017.011.30070 and earlier versions, 2015.006.30394 and earlier versions

> Heap overflow in Adobe Acrobat Reader allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or leak information via malicious XPS files.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 27 Feb 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-62pj-88f8-mrpj

## What is CVE-2018-4890?

CVE-2018-4890 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat, published on 27 Feb 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

An issue was discovered in Adobe Acrobat Reader 2018.009.20050 and earlier versions, 2017.011.30070 and earlier versions, 2015.006.30394 and earlier versions. This vulnerability is an instance of a heap overflow vulnerability in the image conversion engine, when handling JPEG data embedded within an XPS file. A successful attack can lead to code corruption, control-flow hijack, or an information leak attack.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-4890?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Acrobat Dc, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-4890?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-4890 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-4890 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-4890 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Adobe Acrobat

- [CVE-2021-28550](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-28550/): Adobe Acrobat and Reader Use-After-Free (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-21017](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21017/): Adobe Acrobat and Reader Heap-based Buffer Overflow (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2014-0546](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-0546/): Adobe Reader and Acrobat Sandbox Bypass (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2014-0496](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-0496/): Adobe Reader and Acrobat Use-After-Free (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-3346](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-3346/): Adobe Reader and Acrobat Memory Corruption (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-4890 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-4890 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat, published on 27 Feb 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-4890 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Adobe Acrobat. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-4890/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-4890/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-4890
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-4890
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-4890

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-4890/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.