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Virtualization HostApplication · Redhat

CVE-2018-10923

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-09-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.12.14 / 4.1.8 or later.
See remediation →
87/100
Remediation priority · High
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
It was found that the "mknod" call derived from mknod(2) can create files pointing to devices on a glusterfs server node. An authenticated attacker could use this to create an arbitrary device and read data from any device attached to the glusterfs server node.

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

This is a privilege-escalation vulnerability in GlusterFS where an authenticated client can exploit the mknod call to create arbitrary device files on the server node that point to real devices attached to the host system, potentially allowing reading sensitive data from any device the GlusterFS server process can access.

MitigationRestrict or disable the mknod capability for authenticated clients in GlusterFS configuration, or apply the relevant vendor patch/upgrade to a version that addresses this issue.

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
Virtualization HostApplication
Affected:= 4.0
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0= 9.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
GlusterfsApplication
Affected:>= 3.12.0, < 3.12.14>= 4.1.0, < 4.1.8
LeapOperating system
Affected:= 15.1

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

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 GlusterFS is installed
    Run `glusterfs --version` or check for package via `rpm -q glusterfs-server` (RHEL) / `dpkg -l glusterfs-server` (Debian)
    Affected if GlusterFS is installed and version falls within >= 3.12.0 to < 3.12.14 OR >= 4.1.0 to < 4.1.8
  2. Confirm the GlusterFS service is running
    Run `systemctl status glusterd` or `ps aux | grep glusterd`
    Affected if The glusterd (GlusterFS daemon) process is running on the system
  3. Verify if mknod capability is enabled for clients
    Check GlusterFS volume configuration: run `gluster volume info` to list volumes, then inspect each volume's settings with `gluster volume get <volumename> server.allow-insecure` and look for the `server.privport` or `server.grace-timeout` settings; also inspect /etc/glusterfs/glusterd.vol for `allow-insecure` settings
    Affected if The volume has `allow-insecure` set to on, or the glusterd configuration permits insecure (unprivileged) mknod operations from authenticated clients
  4. Check for unauthorized device file creation
    Inspect the GlusterFS export directory (usually /export/brick*) for any unexpected device files (run `ls -la /var/lib/glusterfs/bricks/` or your configured brick paths, look for files with device types like c or b in the first column of ls -la output)
    Affected if Unexpected character device (c) or block device (b) files exist in the brick directories

You are affected if GlusterFS version is within the vulnerable ranges AND the mknod capability is enabled for clients, allowing authenticated clients to create device files on the server.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.12.14 / 4.1.8 or later
Fixed in 3.12.144.1.8
Interim mitigation

Restrict or disable the mknod capability for authenticated clients in GlusterFS configuration, or apply the relevant vendor patch/upgrade to a version that addresses this issue.

Fix this in Virtualization Host 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-2018-10923 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