CVE-2018-15781 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2018-15781
Vulnerability Scoring

7.9
/10
Very High Risk

Highly exploitable, CVE-2018-15781 poses a critical security risk that could lead to severe breaches.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: High
    Exploits require significant effort and special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Adjacent_network
    Attack Vector Under Analysis
  • Privileges Required: None
    No privileges are required for exploitation.
  • Scope: Changed
    Successful exploitation can impact components beyond the vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: Required
    User interaction is necessary for successful exploitation.

CVE-2018-15781 Details

Status: Modified

Last updated: 🕞 21 Nov 2024, 03:51 UTC
Originally published on: 🕓 13 Feb 2019, 16:29 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 2107 days

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

security_alert@emc.com

CVSS3 Type

Secondary

CVSS3 Vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVE-2018-15781 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2018-15781: The Dell Wyse Password Encoder in ThinLinux2 versions prior to 2.1.0.01 contain a Hard-coded Cryptographic Key vulnerability. An unauthenticated remote attacker could reverse engineer the cryptographic system used in the Dell Wyse Password Encoder to discover the hard coded private key and decrypt locally stored cipher text.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2018-15781

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2018-15781 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2018-15781

CVE-2018-15781 presents a challenge to exploit due to its high attack complexity, but the absence of privilege requirements still makes it a viable target for skilled attackers. A thorough security review is advised.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2018-15781, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2018-15781, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: High
    Exploiting CVE-2018-15781 can result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, severely compromising data privacy.
  • Integrity: High
    CVE-2018-15781 could allow unauthorized modifications to data, potentially affecting system reliability and trust.
  • Availability: High
    CVE-2018-15781 can disrupt system operations, potentially causing complete denial of service (DoS).

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.

EPSS Score: 0.153% (probability of exploit)

EPSS Percentile: 52.89% (lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 47.11% of others.

CVE-2018-15781 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-798

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • Read Sensitive Constants Within an Executable CAPEC-191 An adversary engages in activities to discover any sensitive constants present within the compiled code of an executable. These constants may include literal ASCII strings within the file itself, or possibly strings hard-coded into particular routines that can be revealed by code refactoring methods including static and dynamic analysis.
  • Try Common or Default Usernames and Passwords CAPEC-70 An adversary may try certain common or default usernames and passwords to gain access into the system and perform unauthorized actions. An adversary may try an intelligent brute force using empty passwords, known vendor default credentials, as well as a dictionary of common usernames and passwords. Many vendor products come preconfigured with default (and thus well-known) usernames and passwords that should be deleted prior to usage in a production environment. It is a common mistake to forget to remove these default login credentials. Another problem is that users would pick very simple (common) passwords (e.g. "secret" or "password") that make it easier for the attacker to gain access to the system compared to using a brute force attack or even a dictionary attack using a full dictionary.

Vulnerable Configurations

  • cpe:2.3:a:dell:wyse_thinlinux:2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:dell:wyse_thinlinux:2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

Protect Your Infrastructure against CVE-2018-15781: Combat Critical CVE Threats

Stay updated with real-time CVE vulnerabilities and take action to secure your systems. Enhance your cybersecurity posture with the latest threat intelligence and mitigation techniques. Develop the skills necessary to defend against CVEs and secure critical infrastructures. Join the top cybersecurity professionals safeguarding today's infrastructures.

Other 5 Recently Published CVEs Vulnerabilities

  • CVE-2025-26205 – Lua 5.4.7, when the debug library is used, has a out-of-bounds read and segmentation violation in mainpositionTV in ltable.c. NOTE: this is dispute...
  • CVE-2025-26204 – Lua 5.4.7, when the debug library is used, has a out-of-bounds read and segmentation violation in equalkey in ltable.c. NOTE: this is disputed beca...
  • CVE-2025-2129 – A vulnerability was found in Mage AI 0.9.75. It has been classified as problematic. This affects an unknown part. The manipulation leads to insecur...
  • CVE-2025-2127 – A vulnerability was found in JoomlaUX JUX Real Estate 3.4.0 on Joomla. It has been classified as problematic. Affected is an unknown function of th...
  • CVE-2025-2126 – A vulnerability was found in JoomlaUX JUX Real Estate 3.4.0 on Joomla and classified as critical. This issue affects some unknown processing of the...