CVE-2018-14789
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 · uneditedIn Philips' IntelliSpace Cardiovascular (ISCV) products (ISCV Version 3.1 or prior and Xcelera Version 4.1 or prior), an unquoted search path or element vulnerability has been identified, which may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code and escalate their level of privileges.
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 confidenceAn unquoted service path vulnerability exists in Philips IntelliSpace Cardiovascular (ISCV) and Xcelera software where Windows service executable paths contain spaces but are not enclosed in quotes, allowing attackers to place malicious executables in intermediate directories along the path and achieve privilege escalation to execute arbitrary code.
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<= 3.1<= 4.1CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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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Identify installed Philips cardiovascular softwareCheck Windows Programs and Features or registry for installed Philips IntelliSpace Cardiovascular or Xcelera versions. Look in 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall' or the Philips installation directory typically under 'C:\Program Files\Philips\'Affected if Installed version is 3.1 or lower for IntelliSpace Cardiovascular, or 4.1 or lower for Xcelera
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Enumerate Philips-related Windows servicesOpen Services console (services.msc) or run 'sc queryex type= service state= all' via command prompt, then filter for services with 'Philips', 'ISCV', 'Xcelera', or 'IntelliSpace' in the service name or descriptionAffected if Services named with Philips cardiovascular product names exist on the system
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Check service executable paths for unquoted spacesFor each identified Philips service, run 'sc qc <servicename>' to query the binary path, or use 'wmic service where "name='<servicename>'" get pathname,displayname' to extract executable paths. Examine paths containing spaces that are not enclosed in quotation marksAffected if Service binary path contains spaces and lacks surrounding quotes (e.g., C:\Program Files\Philips\App\service.exe instead of "C:\Program Files\Philips\App\service.exe")
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Inspect intermediate directories for suspicious executablesFor each unquoted path with spaces, list all executable files (.exe) in each directory component of the path. For example, if the path is C:\Program Files\Philips\ISCV\bin\service.exe, examine C:\Program Files\ and C:\Program Files\Philips\ and C:\Program Files\Philips\ISCV\bin\ for any unexpected or unauthorized .exe filesAffected if Unexpected or unauthorized executables exist in any directory along the service executable path that could be hijacked for privilege escalation
A system is affected if Philips IntelliSpace Cardiovascular version 3.1 or lower, or Xcelera version 4.1 or lower, is installed AND has Windows services with unquoted executable paths containing spaces, creating potential for binary hijacking.
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 dataApply vendor-provided patches to update to versions beyond 3.1 (ISCV) and 4.1 (Xcelera), or work with Philips to obtain corrected service configurations and ensure strict permissions on service executable directories.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-14789 — 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-2018-14789 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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