CVE-2018-16792
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 · uneditedSolarWinds SFTP/SCP server through 2018-09-10 is vulnerable to XXE via a world readable and writable configuration file that allows an attacker to exfiltrate data.
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 confidenceSolarWinds SFTP/SCP server through 2018-09-10 contains an XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in its configuration file. The configuration file is both world-readable and world-writable, allowing an authenticated or local attacker to inject malicious XML entities and exfiltrate sensitive data from the server.
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<= 2018-09-10CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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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Identify SolarWinds SFTP/SCP Server installationCheck for the presence of SolarWinds SFTP/SCP Server software on the system through installed programs or running servicesAffected if If the software is not present, the system is not affected by this CVE
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Determine installed versionLocate and read the version information or build date of the SolarWinds SFTP/SCP Server installationAffected if If the version or build date is on or before 2018-09-10, the software contains the vulnerability
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Locate the configuration fileFind the XML configuration file used by SolarWinds SFTP/SCP Server (typically in the application installation directory)Affected if If the configuration file cannot be located, the vulnerability assessment cannot proceed
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Check configuration file permissionsInspect the file system permissions on the configuration file to determine if it is world-readable or world-writableAffected if If the configuration file has world-readable or world-writable permissions, the XXE vulnerability is exploitable by authenticated or local attackers
A system is affected if SolarWinds SFTP/SCP Server version is on or before 2018-09-10 AND the configuration file has permissive world-readable or world-writable permissions, allowing unauthorized access to inject malicious XML entities
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 dataRestrict file permissions on the configuration file to prevent unauthorized access, and update to a patched version of the software that properly sanitizes XML input to prevent XXE attacks.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,968.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-16792 — 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-2018-16792 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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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.
- 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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