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Energy Management SuiteApplication · Cisco

CVE-2018-0468

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-12-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 configuration of a local database installed as part of the Cisco Energy Management Suite (CEMS) could allow an authenticated, local attacker to access and alter confidential data. The vulnerability is due to the installation of the PostgreSQL database with unchanged default access credentials. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by logging in to the machine where CEMS is installed and establishing a local connection to the database. The fix for this vulnerability randomizes the database access password in new installations; however, the fix will not change the password for existing installations. Users are required to manually change the password, as documented in the Workarounds section of this advisory. There are workarounds that address this vulnerability.

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

The Cisco Energy Management Suite installs a PostgreSQL database with unchanged default credentials, allowing a local authenticated attacker to log in to the database and access or modify confidential data. This is a straightforward default credential vulnerability affecting the database layer.

MitigationFor existing CEMS installations, manually change the PostgreSQL database password as documented in the advisory workarounds section. New installations receive randomized passwords automatically.

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
Energy Management SuiteApplication
Affected:= 5.2

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Verify Cisco Energy Management Suite version
    Check the installed version of Cisco Energy Management Suite on the system. Typically found in the application version information or system inventory.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 5.2 (all subversions of 5.2 are affected)
  2. Confirm PostgreSQL database presence
    Verify that PostgreSQL is installed as part of the CEMS deployment. This is typically running on the CEMS server itself.
    Affected if PostgreSQL database is installed and running as part of CEMS 5.2
  3. Test default database credentials
    Attempt to authenticate to the PostgreSQL database using the known default credentials for CEMS. This requires access to the database server, typically on localhost or the CEMS management interface.
    Affected if Authentication succeeds with the default PostgreSQL credentials (meaning the password was never changed from the default)
  4. Review database user configuration
    Examine the PostgreSQL user configuration to determine if the default database user account still uses its original password.
    Affected if The database user retains the factory default password rather than a customized value

A system is affected if Cisco Energy Management Suite version 5.2 is installed and the PostgreSQL database is accessible using default credentials rather than a custom password.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

For existing CEMS installations, manually change the PostgreSQL database password as documented in the advisory workarounds section. New installations receive randomized passwords automatically.

Fix this in Energy Management Suite Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2018-0468 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
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