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Db2Application · Ibm

CVE-2018-1566

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 could allow a local user to execute arbitrary code due to a format string error. IBM X-Force ID: 143023.

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

A format string vulnerability in IBM DB2 versions 9.7, 10.1, 10.5, and 11.1 allows a local authenticated user to execute arbitrary code with elevated (potentially root/SYSTEM) privileges due to improper handling of format strings in a DB2 component.

MitigationApply IBM DB2 security patches (contact IBM support for interim fixes) or upgrade to a patched version. As a compensating control, restrict local system access to trusted, least-privilege DB2 service accounts and monitor for suspicious local privilege escalation attempts.

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. Check installed DB2 version
    Run 'db2level' command or query DB2 registry with 'db2pd -registry' to obtain the installed DB2 version number
    Affected if Version displayed is 9.7, 10.1, 10.5, or 11.1 exactly
  2. Verify DB2 instance is running
    Run 'db2 list active databases' or 'db2pd -inst' to confirm an active DB2 instance exists
    Affected if Any DB2 instance is active and version matches affected versions from step 1
  3. Check for local DB2 authentication
    Review DB2 configuration with 'db2 get dbm cfg' and look for authentication settings in the AUTHENTICATION parameter; attempt to verify local user connections are possible
    Affected if Local authentication (AUTHENTICATION set to SERVER, CLIENT, or similar allowing local OS users) is enabled and DB2 user accounts exist
  4. Inspect DB2 process ownership
    Run 'ps -ef | grep db2' (Linux/Unix) or check Task Manager (Windows) to identify which OS user account owns the db2sysc process
    Affected if DB2 runs under a privileged account (root, SYSTEM, or db2admin) and version matches affected versions from step 1

If the installed DB2 version is exactly 9.7, 10.1, 10.5, or 11.1 AND a local authenticated user can connect to the database, the environment is affected by this format string 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

Apply IBM DB2 security patches (contact IBM support for interim fixes) or upgrade to a patched version. As a compensating control, restrict local system access to trusted, least-privilege DB2 service accounts and monitor for suspicious local privilege escalation attempts.

Fix this in Db2 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2018-1566 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