CVE-2018-16095
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 · uneditedIn System Management Module (SMM) versions prior to 1.06, the SMM records hashed passwords to a debug log when user authentication fails.
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 confidenceThe System Management Module (SMM) has an information disclosure vulnerability where it writes hashed passwords to a debug log whenever user authentication fails. This occurs in versions prior to 1.06. An attacker with access to debug logs could obtain password hashes and attempt offline cracking.
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< 1.06CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 SMM firmware versionAccess the Lenovo System Management Module web interface or use IPMI command 'ipmitool -I lanplus -H <SMM_IP> -U <user> raw command' to retrieve firmware version. Alternatively, check via BMC/IMM interface under 'System Management Module' or 'Firmware Update' section.Affected if Firmware version is displayed as less than 1.06 (for example, 1.05, 1.04, etc.)
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Verify debug logging configurationNavigate to SMM web interface settings. Look for debug logging, trace logging, or verbose logging options typically found under 'Advanced' or 'Troubleshooting' settings. Check if debug logging is enabled.Affected if Debug logging or verbose logging is currently enabled in SMM settings
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Inspect debug log accessibilityLocate SMM debug logs via web interface log viewer, file system access to SMM, or exported logs. Verify who has read access to these logs and whether they are stored in a location accessible to unauthorized users.Affected if Debug logs are stored in an accessible location or accessible to users without privileged access to SMM
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Examine logs for authentication failure entriesSearch through SMM debug logs for entries containing 'authentication failed', 'login failed', or similar events. Inspect whether these entries contain hashed password strings (typically hexadecimal strings of fixed length following keywords like 'password' or 'hash').Affected if Debug logs contain authentication failure records with visible hash values or password-related strings
You are affected if your SMM firmware version is below 1.06 AND debug logging is enabled, allowing potential access to password hashes in authentication failure log entries.
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 data1.06
Upgrade SMM to version 1.06 or later. Additionally, restrict access to debug logs and disable debug logging in production environments as a defense-in-depth measure.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-16095 — 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-2018-16095 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
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