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Unified Infrastructure ManagementApplication · Ca

CVE-2018-13819

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-08-30
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A hardcoded secret key, in CA Unified Infrastructure Management 8.5.1, 8.5, and 8.4.7, allows attackers to access sensitive information.

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

CA Unified Infrastructure Management versions 8.5.1, 8.5, and 8.4.7 contain a hardcoded secret key embedded in the application code or configuration. This static cryptographic key can be discovered through code review or reverse engineering, allowing authenticated or unauthenticated attackers to decrypt sensitive data, access protected resources, or impersonate legitimate system components.

MitigationReplace the hardcoded secret key with a proper secrets management solution (e.g., HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager) and implement dynamic key generation. Rotate any credentials or data that may have been exposed using the compromised key.

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
Unified Infrastructure ManagementApplication
Affected:= 8.4.7= 8.5= 8.5.1

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 the installed version of CA Unified Infrastructure Management
    Check the version of the CA UIM installation by examining the 'version.txt' or 'readme' files in the installation directory, or by querying the Nimsoft/hub version information if available
    Affected if The installed version is 8.4.7, 8.5, or 8.5.1 exactly as listed in the affected versions
  2. Locate CA UIM configuration directories
    Navigate to the CA UIM installation directory (typically 'Nimsoft' or 'CA/UIM') and identify folders such as 'robot', 'hub', 'administrator', or 'probes' where configuration files are stored
    Affected if The version check shows an affected version and these configuration directories exist on the system
  3. Search for hardcoded cryptographic keys in configuration files
    Search configuration files (.cfg, .xml, .properties, .ini) within the CA UIM directories for patterns indicating static keys such as 'encryptionKey=', 'secretKey=', 'aesKey=', 'staticKey=', or any Base64-encoded strings longer than 16 characters that appear to be encryption keys
    Affected if A static, hardcoded key value is found in any configuration file within the CA UIM installation directory
  4. Inspect Java or script files for embedded keys
    Examine application JAR files, class files, or script files within the CA UIM installation for hardcoded string literals that resemble cryptographic keys (typically 16, 24, or 32 byte strings used for AES or similar algorithms)
    Affected if A hardcoded key is discovered embedded directly in application code or scripts

If the installed CA UIM version is exactly 8.4.7, 8.5, or 8.5.1 AND a hardcoded static cryptographic key is found in any configuration file, application code, or script within the installation directory, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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

Replace the hardcoded secret key with a proper secrets management solution (e.g., HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager) and implement dynamic key generation. Rotate any credentials or data that may have been exposed using the compromised key.

Fix this in Unified Infrastructure Management Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2018-13819 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data