FreeBSDOperating system
CVE-2018-17160
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 FreeBSD before 11.2-STABLE(r341486) and 11.2-RELEASE-p6, insufficient bounds checking in one of the device models provided by bhyve can permit a guest operating system to overwrite memory in the bhyve host possibly permitting arbitrary code execution. A guest OS using a firmware image can cause the bhyve process to crash, or possibly execute arbitrary code on the host as root.
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 confidenceInsufficient bounds checking in a bhyve device model allows a malicious guest OS to overwrite memory on the bhyve host, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution with root privileges. A guest using a specially crafted firmware image can crash the bhyve process or execute code on the host.
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
FreeBSDOperating system
< 11.2= 11.2CVSS 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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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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Verify bhyve is installedRun `which bhyve` or check if bhyve binary exists in /usr/sbin/bhyve or /usr/local/sbin/bhyveAffected if bhyve binary exists on the system
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Check FreeBSD versionRun `uname -r` to get the running kernel version and compare it to the affected ranges (anything < 11.2 or exactly 11.2)Affected if FreeBSD version is less than 11.2 or exactly 11.2
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Verify bhyve is actively running guestsRun `ps aux | grep bhyve` to see if any bhyve processes are runningAffected if bhyve processes are running with active guest VMs
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Identify running bhyve instancesRun `vmrun list` (if vm-bhyve is installed) or check process list for bhyve command lines showing active guest namesAffected if Any guest VMs are currently running under bhyve
A system is affected if it runs FreeBSD version less than 11.2 or exactly 11.2 AND has bhyve actively running guest VMs.
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.
dbcve · scoped11.2
Update FreeBSD systems running bhyve to version 11.2-STABLE(r341486), 11.2-RELEASE-p6, or later to patch the vulnerable device model bounds checking. Prioritize systems where untrusted guests have network access.
FreeBSD 11.2-RELEASE-p6 or later, or upgrade to 11.3-STABLE/12-STABLE branch
- Identify current FreeBSD version: uname -a
- Run freebsd-update fetch to retrieve available updates
- Run freebsd-update install to apply updates, or upgrade to a patched release
- Reboot the system to load the updated kernel
- Verify the fix is applied by checking the bhyve version or kernel version
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in FreeBSD
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-17160 — 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-2018-17160 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data