CVE-2018-1633
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 · uneditedIBM Informix Dynamic Server Enterprise Edition 12.1 could allow a local user logged in with database administrator user to gain root privileges through a symbolic link vulnerability in onsrvapd. IBM X-Force ID: 144434.
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 confidenceIBM Informix Dynamic Server Enterprise Edition 12.1 contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the onsrvapd component. A user with database administrator (DBA) privileges can exploit a symbolic link manipulation flaw in onsrvapd to gain root-level system access.
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= 12.10CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 installed Informix versionRun 'onstat -' or check Informix installation directory for version information, or query the database server using 'onmode -version'Affected if The installed version is 12.10.x (specifically 12.10)
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Locate the onsrvapd binarySearch for the onsrvapd executable in Informix installation paths (typically under $INFORMIXDIR/bin/) or using 'find / -name onsrvapd 2>/dev/null'Affected if The onsrvapd binary exists on the system
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Verify DBA privilegesCheck if the current user or any database user has DBA privileges by querying Informix user tables or reviewing user role assignmentsAffected if The user possesses DBA-level database privileges
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Inspect onsrvapd file permissionsRun 'ls -la' on the onsrvapd binary to check owner, group, and permission bits (e.g., -rwsr-xr-x)Affected if The file is writable by non-root users or has weak permissions allowing modification
You are affected if Informix Dynamic Server version 12.10 is installed, the onsrvapd component is present, and a user with DBA privileges exists on the system where symbolic link manipulation could be performed on the onsrvapd binary.
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 dataApply IBM's patch for CVE-2018-1633, restrict DBA account access to only necessary personnel, and ensure strict file permissions on the onsrvapd binary and related Informix executables to prevent symbolic link abuse.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $2,880.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-1633 — 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-2018-1633 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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