Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2018-0493
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 · uneditedremctld in remctl before 3.14, when an attacker is authorized to execute a command that uses the sudo option, has a use-after-free that leads to a daemon crash, memory corruption, or arbitrary command execution.
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 · moderate confidenceUse-after-free vulnerability in remctld (remctl daemon) when processing commands that use the sudo option, affecting versions prior to 3.14. An attacker with authorization to execute sudo commands can trigger the use-after-free, leading to daemon crash, memory corruption, or potential arbitrary command execution.
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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 9.0< 3.14CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify remctl is installedRun 'dpkg -l | grep remctl' on Debian, or 'rpm -qa | grep remctl' on RHEL-based systems, or check for /usr/sbin/remctldAffected if remctl package is found on the system
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Determine installed remctl versionRun 'remctld --version' or check the package version with 'dpkg -s remctl' or 'rpm -qi remctl'Affected if Version is less than 3.14 or the version cannot be determined (indicating older unpatched release)
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Check if sudo configuration is enabled in remctlInspect remctl configuration files - typically /etc/remctl/conf.d/ or /etc/remctl.conf - look for 'sudo' option or sudo-related command definitions in the configurationAffected if The remctl configuration contains sudo command definitions or the 'sudo' option is enabled in the remctld configuration
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Verify remctld daemon is runningRun 'ps aux | grep remctld' or 'systemctl status remctld' to check if the daemon process is activeAffected if remctld daemon is currently running and serves as the attack surface
System is affected if remctl version is below 3.14 AND the remctld daemon is running with sudo command support enabled in its configuration
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 data3.14
Upgrade to remctl version 3.14 or later to obtain the patch addressing the use-after-free in sudo option handling. Since the attacker requires authorization to execute sudo commands, ensure proper access controls and monitor for anomalous command execution.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-0493 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-0493 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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