Windows 10Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2018-0753

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-01-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
Windows 8.1 and RT 8.1, Windows Server 2012 and R2, Windows 10 Gold, 1511, 1607, 1703 and 1709, Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server, version 1709 allow a denial of service vulnerability due to the way objects are handled in memory, aka "Windows IPSec Denial of Service 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 · moderate confidence

A denial of service vulnerability exists in Windows IPSec implementation where improper memory object handling allows an attacker to cause the IPSec service to become unresponsive. The vulnerability affects multiple Windows versions from 8.1 through Windows Server 1709.

MitigationApply the appropriate Microsoft security update for CVE-2018-0753 to all affected Windows systems. For systems where immediate patching is not possible, consider temporary network-level IPSec filtering as a compensating control.

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
Windows 10Operating system
Affected:all versions= 1511= 1607= 1703= 1709
Windows 8.1Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Rt 8.1Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Server 2012Operating system
Affected:all versions= r2
Windows Server 2016Operating system
Affected:all versions= 1709

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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 Windows version is affected
    Run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' and compare the displayed version against the affected list: Windows 10 (all versions, specifically 1511, 1607, 1703, 1709), Windows 8.1 (all versions), Windows Rt 8.1 (all versions), Windows Server 2012 (all versions, specifically R2), Windows Server 2016 (all versions, specifically 1709)
    Affected if The installed Windows version matches any version in the affected list
  2. Confirm IPSec service is installed
    Run 'sc query ipsec' or open Services and locate 'IPsec Policy Agent' service
    Affected if The IPSec Policy Agent service is present on the system
  3. Check if IPSec is actively configured
    Run 'netsh ipsec static show all' to list configured IPSec policies, or check the registry under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\PolicyAgent for stored policies
    Affected if One or more IPSec policies or rules are configured on the system

A system is affected if it runs an affected Windows version AND has IPSec policies actively configured or the IPSec Policy Agent service in use.

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

Apply the appropriate Microsoft security update for CVE-2018-0753 to all affected Windows systems. For systems where immediate patching is not possible, consider temporary network-level IPSec filtering as a compensating control.

Fix this in Windows 10 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-0753 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-0753 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data