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SatelliteApplication · Redhat

CVE-2018-10931

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-08-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.6.11 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
High EPSS 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
It was found that cobbler 2.6.x exposed all functions from its CobblerXMLRPCInterface class over XMLRPC. A remote, unauthenticated attacker could use this flaw to gain high privileges within cobbler, upload files to arbitrary location in the context of the daemon.

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

Cobbler 2.6.x exposed all functions from its CobblerXMLRPCInterface class over XMLRPC without any authentication requirements. A remote, unauthenticated attacker could leverage this to execute high-privilege operations within the cobbler daemon, including uploading files to arbitrary locations on the system.

MitigationRestrict XMLRPC access by enabling authentication on the cobbler XMLRPC interface, or upgrade to a patched version if available. Network segmentation should be applied to limit exposure of the cobbler service to untrusted networks.

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
SatelliteApplication
Affected:= 5.6= 5.7= 5.8
CobblerApplication
Affected:>= 2.6.0, <= 2.6.11

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. Identify Cobbler version
    Run `cobbler --version` or check the installed package with `rpm -q cobbler` or `dpkg -l cobbler`
    Affected if Version is 2.6.0 through 2.6.11, or the package is from Red Hat Satellite 5.6, 5.7, or 5.8
  2. Locate Cobbler configuration file
    Find the settings file typically at /etc/cobbler/settings or /etc/cobbler/settings.yml
    Affected if Configuration file exists and is readable
  3. Check if XMLRPC authentication is enabled
    Inspect the settings file for the `xmlrpc_rpc` or `enable_xmlrpc` or `authentication` settings. Look for entries like `xmlrpc_enable_rpc: true` or `xmlrpc_auth: "none"`
    Affected if XMLRPC authentication is disabled, or there is no authentication requirement configured for the XMLRPC interface
  4. Verify if Cobbler XMLRPC port is listening
    Run `netstat -tlnp | grep cobbler` or `ss -tlnp | grep cobbler` to check if the Cobbler XMLRPC service (default port 25151) is bound to a network interface
    Affected if The XMLRPC port is bound to 0.0.0.0 or an external interface rather than localhost only
  5. Test unauthenticated XMLRPC access
    Attempt an XMLRPC call without credentials using a tool like `xmlrpc` client: `xmlrpc http://<server>:25151/cobbler_api list_distros` or similar unauthenticated call
    Affected if The call succeeds and returns data without requiring any authentication credentials

A system is affected if it runs Cobbler 2.6.0-2.6.11 or Red Hat Satellite 5.6-5.8 AND has the XMLRPC interface exposed to the network with authentication disabled.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.6.11
Interim mitigation

Restrict XMLRPC access by enabling authentication on the cobbler XMLRPC interface, or upgrade to a patched version if available. Network segmentation should be applied to limit exposure of the cobbler service to untrusted networks.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Cobbler >= 2.6.12; Red Hat Satellite security errata for 5.6, 5.7, 5.8

  1. Upgrade Cobbler from version 2.6.0-2.6.11 to version 2.6.12 or later to obtain the patched release that restricts XMLRPC interface exposure
  2. For Red Hat Satellite deployments, apply the corresponding security errata/patch for versions 5.6, 5.7, and 5.8 via Red Hat Network or Satellite management console
  3. After upgrading, verify that the XMLRPC interface no longer exposes privileged functions to unauthenticated users by reviewing the CobblerXMLRPCInterface configuration
  4. Restart the cobbler service after applying the update

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

Fix this in Satellite Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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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-2018-10931 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data