CVE-2018-12590
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 · uneditedUbiquiti Networks EdgeSwitch version 1.7.3 and prior suffer from an externally controlled format-string vulnerability due to lack of protection on the admin CLI, leading to code execution and privilege escalation greater than administrators themselves are allowed. An attacker with access to an admin account could escape the restricted CLI and execute arbitrary code.
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 Ubiquiti EdgeSwitch admin CLI contains an externally controlled format-string vulnerability allowing an authenticated admin user to escape the restricted CLI environment and execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges beyond normal administrative capabilities.
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<= 1.7.3CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm device model is Ubiquiti EdgeSwitchAccess the device web UI or CLI and identify the exact model number. The vulnerability affects all EdgeSwitch models including 8, 8XP, 16, 16XP, 24, 24XP, 48, and 48XP.Affected if The device is any Ubiquiti EdgeSwitch model.
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Identify the installed firmware versionIn the web UI, go to the Dashboard or System tab and locate the Firmware version field. Via CLI, run 'show version' or 'show system' to display firmware information.Affected if The firmware version is 1.7.3 or any version lower than 1.7.3.
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Verify admin user accounts existIn the web UI, navigate to the Users or Accounts section under the Management tab. Via CLI, run 'show running-config' and look for user accounts configured under the 'username' section.Affected if At least one admin-level user account is configured on the device.
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Determine if admin CLI interface is network-accessibleCheck if the device management interface (typically on ports 22 for SSH or 80/443 for web) is reachable from network segments beyond the trusted admin network.Affected if The EdgeSwitch admin interface is accessible from network segments that are not strictly controlled.
If the device is a Ubiquiti EdgeSwitch running firmware version 1.7.3 or lower with an admin account configured and the CLI is network-accessible, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.
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 dataUpgrade Ubiquiti EdgeSwitch to a firmware version newer than 1.7.3. Until patched, strictly limit admin account access and implement network segmentation to reduce exposure.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-12590 — 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-2018-12590 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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