CVE-2018-11047
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 · uneditedCloud Foundry UAA, versions 4.19 prior to 4.19.2 and 4.12 prior to 4.12.4 and 4.10 prior to 4.10.2 and 4.7 prior to 4.7.6 and 4.5 prior to 4.5.7, incorrectly authorizes requests to admin endpoints by accepting a valid refresh token in lieu of an access token. Refresh tokens by design have a longer expiration time than access tokens, allowing the possessor of a refresh token to authenticate longer than expected. This affects the administrative endpoints of the UAA. i.e. /Users, /Groups, etc. However, if the user has been deleted or had groups removed, or the client was deleted, the refresh token will no longer be valid.
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 confidenceThe Cloud Foundry UAA (User Account and Authentication) server incorrectly accepts valid refresh tokens as authorization for admin API endpoints (/Users, /Groups, etc.) when it should only accept access tokens. Since refresh tokens have longer expiration times than access tokens by design, this allows an attacker with a compromised refresh token to maintain unauthorized administrative access beyond the expected timeframe.
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>= 4.5.0, < 4.5.7>= 4.7.0, < 4.7.6>= 4.10.0, < 4.10.2>= 4.12.0, < 4.12.4>= 4.19.0, < 4.19.2CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify UAA versionQuery the UAA server health or info endpoint (e.g., GET /healthz or /info) or inspect the UAA startup logs for the version stringAffected if The reported version falls within any of these ranges: >=4.5.0 <4.5.7, >=4.7.0 <4.7.6, >=4.10.0 <4.10.2, >=4.12.0 <4.12.4, or >=4.19.0 <4.19.2
-
Verify admin API exposureCheck if the UAA admin endpoints (/Users, /Groups, /Clients, /oauth/clients) are network-accessible from untrusted networks or check the UAA routing configurationAffected if Admin API endpoints are externally accessible without additional network segmentation
-
Confirm token authentication methodObtain a refresh token (typically via /oauth/token with grant_type=refresh_token) and attempt to call an admin API endpoint (e.g., GET /Users) using only the refresh token in the Authorization headerAffected if The admin API responds with success (200 OK) and returns data rather than rejecting the request with an authentication error
If the UAA version is in any affected range AND the admin API is accessible, a refresh token can be used to bypass access token requirements on admin endpoints.
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 data4.5.74.7.64.10.2
Upgrade UAA to versions 4.19.2, 4.12.4, 4.10.2, 4.7.6, or 4.5.7 or later to ensure admin endpoints properly reject refresh tokens and require valid access tokens.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,512.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-11047 — 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-2018-11047 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
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.
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.
- 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