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Db2Application · Ibm

CVE-2018-1488

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-05-25
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) 10.5 and 11.1 is vulnerable to a buffer overflow, which could allow an authenticated local attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system as root. IBM X-Force ID: 140973.

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 confidence

IBM DB2 versions 10.5 and 11.1 contain a buffer overflow vulnerability in the DB2 server components for Linux, UNIX, and Windows (including DB2 Connect Server). An authenticated local attacker can exploit this buffer overflow to execute arbitrary code with root/elevated privileges on the affected system.

MitigationApply IBM DB2 security patches or upgrades to versions 10.5 and 11.1 as specified in IBM's security bulletin. Restrict local access to trusted users only until the patch is applied.

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:= 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. Confirm IBM DB2 installation and version
    Run 'db2level' (Linux/UNIX) or 'db2level.exe' (Windows) from the DB2 installation directory, or check the DB2 diagnostic logs for the version string
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 10.5 or exactly 11.1
  2. Identify the operating system platform
    Run 'uname -a' on Linux/UNIX or check System Properties on Windows. DB2 on all these platforms with versions 10.5 and 11.1 are affected
    Affected if The system is running Linux, UNIX, or Windows with DB2 10.5 or 11.1 installed
  3. Verify DB2 server components are installed
    Check for DB2 server instances using 'db2 list database directory' or 'db2pd -db' commands. Also verify DB2 Connect Server presence if applicable
    Affected if DB2 server or DB2 Connect Server instances exist on a system running version 10.5 or 11.1
  4. Confirm local authentication is enabled
    Review DB2 authentication settings via 'db2 get dbm cfg | grep AUTHENTICATION' and check for local OS-level DB2 users with login access
    Affected if Local users can authenticate to DB2 and the DB2 instance runs with elevated (root/SYSTEM) privileges

A system is affected if IBM DB2 version 10.5 or 11.1 is installed on Linux, UNIX, or Windows with accessible DB2 server components and local authentication enabled.

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 security patches or upgrades to versions 10.5 and 11.1 as specified in IBM's security bulletin. Restrict local access to trusted users only until the patch is applied.

Fix this in Db2 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2018-1488 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