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Db2Application · Ibm

CVE-2018-1487

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-07-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
IBM DB2 for Linux, UNIX and Windows (includes DB2 Connect Server) 9.7, 10.1, 10.5 and 11.1 binaries load shared libraries from an untrusted path potentially giving low privilege users full access to the DB2 instance account by loading a malicious shared library. IBM X-Force ID: 140972.

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

IBM DB2 binaries for Linux, UNIX, and Windows versions 9.7 through 11.1 load shared libraries from untrusted paths (such as the current working directory or world-writable locations). A low-privilege attacker can place a malicious shared library in one of these paths, which DB2 will load with the elevated privileges of the DB2 instance account, enabling full compromise of the database instance.

MitigationApply IBM DB2 patches for CVE-2018-1487 when available. Restrict file permissions on DB2 directories and ensure the DB2 instance runs from a secured, non-writable directory. Verify that library loading paths are configured to only use trusted, secure directories.

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
Db2Application
Affected:= 9.7= 10.1= 10.5= 11.1

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify DB2 version
    Run 'db2level' command as the DB2 instance owner, or query 'select * from sysibmadm.env_db2_instances' to retrieve the installed DB2 version and fix pack level
    Affected if The installed version equals 9.7, 10.1, 10.5, or 11.1 (any fix pack)
  2. Check DB2 installation directory permissions
    Run 'ls -ld <DB2_HOME>' and verify the directory is not world-writable or group-writable. DB2_HOME is typically /opt/ibm/db2/V11.1 or similar
    Affected if The DB2 installation directory has write permissions for other users (permissions like 'drwxr-xrwx' or 'drwxrwxrwx')
  3. Check DB2 instance directory permissions
    Run 'ls -ld ~<db2instance>' for each DB2 instance, where <db2instance> is the instance name returned by 'db2ilist'
    Affected if The DB2 instance home directory is world-writable or owned by a different low-privilege user
  4. Check for writable directories in library search path
    Review DB2 configuration with 'db2 get dbm cfg' and look for environment variables or registry variables that control library loading paths. Check if paths like current working directory or /tmp are accessible
    Affected if DB2 is configured to load libraries from directories that low-privilege users can write to, such as the instance home directory or temporary directories
  5. Verify process working directory at runtime
    Observe what directory DB2 processes run from by checking 'ps -ef' output for db2sysc processes and their cwd. A low-privilege user can place a malicious library in that working directory
    Affected if DB2 processes run from a directory that is writable by non-privileged users (such as /home/<user> or a shared working directory)

You are affected if you run any of DB2 versions 9.7, 10.1, 10.5, or 11.1 AND any DB2 directories or working directories are writable by low-privilege users who could place malicious shared libraries.

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

Apply IBM DB2 patches for CVE-2018-1487 when available. Restrict file permissions on DB2 directories and ensure the DB2 instance runs from a secured, non-writable directory. Verify that library loading paths are configured to only use trusted, secure directories.

Fix this in Db2 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2018-1487 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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