CVE-2018-16596
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 · uneditedA stack-based buffer overflow in the LAN UPnP service running on UDP port 1900 of Swisscom Internet-Box (2, Standard, and Plus) prior to v09.04.00 and Internet-Box light prior to v08.05.02 allows remote code execution. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability. Sending a simple UDP packet to port 1900 allows an attacker to execute code on a remote device. However, this is only possible if the attacker is inside the LAN. Because of ASLR, the success rate is not 100% and leads instead to a DoS of the UPnP service. The remaining functionality of the Internet Box is not affected. A reboot of the Internet Box is necessary to attempt the exploit again.
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 confidenceA stack-based buffer overflow in the LAN UPnP service on UDP port 1900 allows remote code execution on Swisscom Internet-Box (2, Standard, Plus) and Internet-Box light devices. The attacker must be on the internal network to exploit this; ASLR reduces exploit reliability, often causing DoS instead of RCE.
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< 09.04.00< 08.05.02< 09.04.00<= 09.04.00CVSS 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
- Adjacent
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/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 Swisscom Internet-Box modelLog into the router web interface or check the device label to determine if it is an Internet Box 2, Standard, Plus, or Light model.Affected if The device is any of these four models.
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Check the installed firmware versionAccess the router admin panel (typically at 192.168.1.1) and navigate to the firmware or status page to view the current firmware version. Alternatively, use the command line to check if accessible via SSH/Telnet.Affected if The firmware version is below 09.04.00 for Internet Box 2/Standard/Plus, or below 08.05.02 for Internet Box Light.
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Verify the UPnP service is enabled on UDP port 1900Scan the router from the internal network using 'nmap -sU -p 1900 <router_ip>' or check the router web interface under LAN settings or UPnP configuration to see if UPnP is turned on.Affected if UDP port 1900 is open and UPnP is enabled, meaning the vulnerable service is exposed.
A user is affected if they have a Swisscom Internet-Box 2, Standard, Plus, or Light device running firmware below the fixed versions AND the UPnP service on UDP port 1900 is enabled.
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 data08.05.0209.04.00
Upgrade firmware to v09.04.00 (Internet-Box 2/Standard/Plus) or v08.05.02 (Internet-Box light). If upgrading is not feasible, disable UPnP service or restrict LAN access to the device.
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- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-16596 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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