dbcve.org
OpenflowApplication · Opendaylight

CVE-2018-1078

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-03-16
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 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
OpenDayLight version Carbon SR3 and earlier contain a vulnerability during node reconciliation that can result in traffic flows that should be expired or should expire shortly being re-installed and their timers reset resulting in traffic being allowed that should be expired.

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

During node reconciliation in OpenDayLight Carbon SR3 and earlier, flow entries that have expired or are near expiration are incorrectly re-installed with reset timers. This causes traffic that should be blocked to continue flowing, bypassing intended flow expiration policies.

MitigationUpgrade OpenDayLight to a version beyond Carbon SR3 that contains the patch for this vulnerability, or implement compensating controls such as flow monitoring to detect and manually intervene when flows that should expire are being reinstalled.

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
OpenflowApplication
Affected:<= carbon= sp1= sp2= sp3

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

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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. Determine OpenDayLight version
    Run the command to check the installed OpenDayLight version (typically via 'odl-version' or checking /opt/opendaylight/etc/custom.properties, or using the Karaf console 'feature:list | grep odl').
    Affected if The version is Carbon SR3 or any Carbon Service Pack (SP1, SP2, SP3), or any version <= carbon.
  2. Verify OpenFlow plugin is installed and active
    Check if the OpenFlow plugin feature is installed in the OpenDayLight Karaf console using 'feature:list | grep openflowplugin' or by inspecting the running services related to OpenFlow.
    Affected if The OpenFlow plugin is installed and active.
  3. Inspect flow table entries for unexpected reinstallation
    Query the OpenFlow switch flow tables via the OpenDayLight southbound API or by using ovs-vsctl/ofctl commands on the connected switches to list installed flows and their idle_timeout/hard_timeout values.
    Affected if Flow entries that should have expired (idle_timeout reached) are still present in the flow table with refreshed or reset timer values.
  4. Compare flow entry timestamps with expected expiration
    Monitor flow entries over time using 'ovs-ofctl dump-flows' or the OpenDayLight REST API at /restconf/operational/opendaylight-inventory:nodes to track flow installation and expiration timestamps.
    Affected if Flows with low or zero idle_timeout are being reinstalled after expiration instead of being removed.

A user is affected if they are running OpenDayLight Carbon SR3 or earlier with the OpenFlow plugin enabled, and they observe flow entries that should have expired remaining active or being reinstalled with reset timers.

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

Upgrade OpenDayLight to a version beyond Carbon SR3 that contains the patch for this vulnerability, or implement compensating controls such as flow monitoring to detect and manually intervene when flows that should expire are being reinstalled.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

OpenDayLight Fluorine (or latest stable release post-Carbon)

  1. 1. Identify the current OpenDayLight deployment version by checking the karaf console or distribution directory name.
  2. 2. Plan maintenance window as upgrade will require service interruption.
  3. 3. Backup current configuration files in /opt/opendaylight/etc and /opt/opendaylight/initial.
  4. 4. Download the OpenDayLight Fluorine release (or latest stable release) from the official download site.
  5. 5. Stop the current OpenDayLight service: systemctl stop opendaylight.
  6. 6. Install the new Fluorine version to /opt/opendaylight.
  7. 7. Migrate configuration files from the old installation to the new one, reviewing for deprecated settings.
  8. 8. Start the new OpenDayLight service: systemctl start opendaylight.
Caveat Configuration compatibility should be verified; some deprecated features in Fluorine may require adjustment

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

Fix this in Openflow Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,888.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-1078 — 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-2018-1078 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