CVE-2018-15869
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 · uneditedAn Amazon Web Services (AWS) developer who does not specify the --owners flag when describing images via AWS CLI, and therefore not properly validating source software per AWS recommended security best practices, may unintentionally load an undesired and potentially malicious Amazon Machine Image (AMI) from the uncurated public community AMI catalog.
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 confidenceWhen using AWS CLI describe-images without the --owners flag, users may inadvertently query and potentially load malicious or unwanted AMIs from the uncurated public community catalog instead of trusted sources, per AWS best practices requiring explicit owner validation.
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< 1.3.0CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
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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Check installed Packer versionRun 'packer version' to get the version numberAffected if Version is less than 1.3.0
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Locate Packer template filesFind .json or .pkr.hcl files in your project that define AWS buildersAffected if Templates use the AWS builder without specifying source_ami_owner
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Inspect AWS builder source_ami_owner settingOpen each Packer template and check if the AWS builder block contains a 'source_ami_owner' parameter with a valid value (such as 'amazon', 'self', or a specific account ID)Affected if source_ami_owner is missing, empty, or set to 'all' or null
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Check for ami_owners in provision scriptsReview any shell scripts or automation that call 'aws ec2 describe-images' and verify they include the --owners flagAffected if AWS CLI describe-images calls lack the --owners parameter
You are affected if running Packer version below 1.3.0 AND your templates/scripts do not explicitly specify trusted AMI owners via source_ami_owner or --owners flag.
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 data1.3.0
Always specify the --owners flag (e.g., --owners amazon, --owners self, or specific account IDs) when using AWS CLI to describe or launch AMIs to ensure only trusted, curated images are used.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,744.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-15869 — 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-2018-15869 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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