CVE-2018-1232
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 · uneditedRSA Authentication Agent version 8.0.1 and earlier for Web for both IIS and Apache Web Server are impacted by a stack-based buffer overflow which may occur when handling certain malicious web cookies that have invalid formats. The attacker could exploit this vulnerability to crash the authentication agent and cause a denial-of-service situation.
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 confidenceStack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in RSA Authentication Agent 8.0.1 and earlier for Web (both IIS and Apache) when handling malformed web cookies with invalid formats, allowing unauthenticated attackers to crash the authentication agent and cause denial of service.
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<= 8.0.1CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify RSA Authentication Agent for Web versionCheck the installed version of RSA Authentication Agent for Web through the software inventory, program files listing, or system information. On Windows check Add/Remove Programs or the installation directory; on Linux check RPM/dpkg packages or the installation directory.Affected if The installed version is 8.0.1 or earlier (any version up to and including 8.0.1)
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Confirm web agent component is deployedDetermine whether RSA Authentication Agent for Web is installed and active. Check if the web agent is loaded as an IIS ISAPI filter/module or as an Apache module (mod_auth_rsa or similar) handling authentication requests.Affected if The web agent component is installed and active on IIS or Apache web servers
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Verify web authentication is enabledCheck the web agent configuration to confirm web-based authentication is enabled and the agent is actively processing authentication requests through cookie handling.Affected if Web authentication is enabled and the agent processes cookies as part of the authentication flow
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Identify exposure to malformed cookiesReview web server logs and authentication agent logs for any signs of crashes, errors, or instability related to cookie processing. Check if the web interface is accessible to unauthenticated users who could send malformed cookies.Affected if The web authentication interface is exposed to unauthenticated users and the agent handles cookies without sufficient validation
You are affected if RSA Authentication Agent for Web version 8.0.1 or earlier is installed and the web agent component is actively handling authentication requests, as the stack-based buffer overflow can be triggered by malformed cookies from unauthenticated attackers.
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 dataUpdate RSA Authentication Agent to a version newer than 8.0.1 (check RSA SecurID release notes for patched version) and implement input validation on cookie handling as a defense-in-depth measure.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-1232 — 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-2018-1232 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
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- 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
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