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Open Build ServiceApplication · Opensuse

CVE-2018-12478

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-10-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
A Improper Input Validation vulnerability in Open Build Service allows remote attackers to extract files from the system where the service runs. Affected releases are openSUSE Open Build Service: status of is unknown.

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 · moderate confidence

Improper input validation in Open Build Service allows remote attackers to extract files from the server through specially crafted input. This appears to be a path traversal or file inclusion vulnerability that bypasses access controls.

MitigationImplement strict input validation and sanitization for all file paths and parameters in the Open Build Service, ensuring proper path canonicalization and access control checks before any file operations.

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
Open Build ServiceApplication
Affected:all versions

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 Open Build Service installation
    Check for OBS packages using your package manager: 'rpm -qa | grep -i obs' (RHEL/CentOS) or 'dpkg -l | grep -i obs' (Debian). Also check for running services with 'systemctl list-units | grep -i obs' or 'ps aux | grep -i obs'
    Affected if Open Build Service packages or processes are found on the system
  2. Determine OBS version
    Run 'osc --version' or check the RPM/Debian package version with 'rpm -qi obs-server' or 'dpkg -l obs-server'. Alternatively, check the web API version at '/about' if the web interface is accessible
    Affected if Any installed version of Open Build Service is found (all versions are affected)
  3. Verify web API accessibility
    Check if the OBS API is network-accessible by attempting to reach it: 'curl -s http://localhost:4444/about' (default OBS API port) or check nginx/apache configuration for OBS proxy setups in /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ or /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/
    Affected if The OBS API/web interface is exposed and reachable from the network
  4. Check for input validation mechanisms
    Review OBS source code or configuration for input validation. Check files in /usr/lib/obs/server/ for API request handling code, particularly looking for path handling in request parameters. Inspect /etc/obs/projects.xml or similar project configuration files
    Affected if No explicit path validation or sanitization is found in the API request handling code
  5. Review access control configuration
    Examine OBS configuration files for authentication and authorization settings: check /etc/obs/cloudupload.yml, /etc/obs/bs_servicedata, and project ACL configurations. Look for any proxy or WAF rules in front of OBS that might provide additional filtering
    Affected if No additional access controls or filtering exist between the public API and file operations

If Open Build Service is installed and its API/web interface is network-accessible without strict input validation or additional access controls, the environment is vulnerable to path traversal attacks.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement strict input validation and sanitization for all file paths and parameters in the Open Build Service, ensuring proper path canonicalization and access control checks before any file operations.

Fix this in Open Build Service Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
44.0 hours of engineering $7,720
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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-2018-12478 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
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