CVE-2018-15481
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 · uneditedImproper input sanitization within the restricted administration shell on UCOPIA Wireless Appliance devices using firmware version 5.1.x before 5.1.13 allows authenticated remote attackers to escape the shell and escalate their privileges by adding a LocalCommand to the SSH configuration file in the user home folder.
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 confidenceImproper input sanitization in the restricted administration shell of UCOPIA Wireless Appliance firmware versions before 5.1.13 allows authenticated attackers to escape the restricted shell and escalate privileges by injecting LocalCommand directives into the SSH configuration file located in their user home folder.
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>= 5.1.0, <= 5.1.13CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the UCOPIA Wireless ApplianceCheck the device or system information to confirm it is a UCOPIA Wireless Appliance. This may be visible in system hostname, device labeling, or network documentation.Affected if The target system is not a UCOPIA Wireless Appliance.
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Determine the firmware versionAccess the appliance administration interface or use the command line to retrieve the firmware version. This is typically available via the web UI status page or by running a version command via SSH or console access.Affected if The installed firmware version is between 5.1.0 and 5.1.13 inclusive.
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Confirm SSH administrative access existsVerify that SSH access to the restricted administration shell is enabled and that valid user credentials exist for authenticated access.Affected if SSH administrative access with a valid user account is available on the appliance.
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Inspect SSH configuration files in user home foldersExamine the SSH configuration file (typically ~/.ssh/config or /etc/ssh/ssh_config) in each user home directory for any unexpected or injected LocalCommand directives that were not configured by administrators.Affected if LocalCommand directives are present in SSH configuration files within user home directories and were not intentionally configured by the administrator.
A user is affected if they are running UCOPIA Wireless Appliance firmware between versions 5.1.0 and 5.1.13 with SSH administrative access enabled, and if any SSH configuration files in user home directories contain unauthorized LocalCommand directives.
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 UCOPIA Wireless Appliance firmware to version 5.1.13 or later to address the input sanitization flaw in the restricted administration shell.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-15481 — 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-2018-15481 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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