dbcve.org
Unified Computing System DirectorApplication · Cisco

CVE-2018-0238

CRITICAL · 9.9 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-04-19
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
A vulnerability in the role-based resource checking functionality of the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) Director could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to view unauthorized information for any virtual machine in the UCS Director end-user portal and perform any permitted operations on any virtual machine. The permitted operations can be configured for the end user on the virtual machines with either of the following settings: The virtual machine is associated to a Virtual Data Center (VDC) that has an end user self-service policy attached to the VDC. The end user role has VM Management Actions settings configured under User Permissions. This is a global configuration, so all the virtual machines visible in the end-user portal will have the VM management actions available. The vulnerability is due to improper user authentication checks. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by logging in to the UCS Director with a modified username and valid password. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain visibility into and perform actions against all virtual machines in the UCS Director end-user portal of the affected system. This vulnerability affects Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) Director releases 6.0 and 6.5 prior to patch 3 that are in a default configuration. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvh53501.

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

A vulnerability in Cisco UCS Director's role-based resource checking allows authenticated remote attackers to bypass authorization by logging in with a modified username while using a valid password. This enables attackers to view unauthorized VM information and perform permitted VM management actions across all virtual machines in the UCS Director end-user portal, regardless of the user's actual role permissions.

MitigationApply Cisco patch 3 or later for UCS Director versions 6.0 and 6.5 to address the improper user authentication checks. Alternatively, review and restrict user role configurations and VDC self-service policies until the patch can be applied.

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
Unified Computing System DirectorApplication
Affected:= 6.5\(0.0\)= 6.5\(0.1\)

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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 if Cisco UCS Director is deployed
    Locate Cisco UCS Director installation in your environment - typically installed on a dedicated server or virtual machine running the UCS Director application
    Affected if Cisco UCS Director software is present in your environment
  2. Check installed UCS Director version
    Access the UCS Director administrative interface or use system information commands to determine the exact version number (e.g., via About or Version info in the admin console, or command line tools if available)
    Affected if Version is 6.5(0.0) or 6.5(0.1)
  3. Verify end-user portal is accessible
    Confirm that the UCS Director end-user portal (typically port 443 or 8443) is accessible and enabled for user authentication
    Affected if End-user portal is enabled and allows user login
  4. Review user account configurations
    Examine user accounts in UCS Director to determine if multiple roles exist with varying permission levels, particularly any self-service or VDC policies assigned to users
    Affected if Multiple user roles with limited permissions are configured in the system
  5. Audit recent user login activity
    Review authentication and authorization logs for any anomalies such as successful logins with mismatched role permissions or unexpected access patterns
    Affected if Logs show users accessing resources outside their assigned role permissions

You are affected if Cisco UCS Director versions 6.5(0.0) or 6.5(0.1) is installed and the end-user portal is accessible, allowing users to potentially bypass role-based access controls.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Cisco patch 3 or later for UCS Director versions 6.0 and 6.5 to address the improper user authentication checks. Alternatively, review and restrict user role configurations and VDC self-service policies until the patch can be applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Cisco UCS Director 6.5 patch 3 or later (6.5.0.0 and 6.5.0.1 to 6.5 with patch 3)

  1. Identify the current installed version of Cisco UCS Director using the administration console or CLI
  2. Access the Cisco UCS Director downloads page on tools.cisco.com
  3. Download Cisco UCS Director version 6.5 patch 3 or later
  4. Review the patch installation instructions in the Cisco UCS Director upgrade guide
  5. Create a full backup of the UCS Director system and database before applying the patch
  6. Schedule a maintenance window to minimize business impact
  7. Apply the patch following Cisco's documented upgrade procedure
  8. Verify the patch was applied successfully by checking the version number
Caveat Always review Cisco release notes for patch 3 for any compatibility considerations or known issues before applying

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

Fix this in Unified Computing System Director Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,950
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,120.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-0238 — 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-2018-0238 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