CVE-2018-1780
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 DB2 for Linux, UNIX and Windows (includes DB2 Connect Server) 9.7, 10.1, 10.5, and 11.1 could allow a local db2 instance owner to obtain root access by exploiting a symbolic link attack to read/write/corrupt a file that they originally did not have permission to access. IBM X-Force ID: 148803.
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 local privilege escalation vulnerability in IBM DB2 versions 9.7, 10.1, 10.5, and 11.1 allows a db2 instance owner to gain root access by exploiting a symbolic link attack to read, write, or corrupt files they originally lacked permission to 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= 9.7= 10.1= 10.5= 11.1CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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.
-
Identify installed DB2 versionRun command: db2pd -version or db2level. Alternatively, query DB2 with: db2 select * from sysibm.sysversionsAffected if The installed version is 9.7, 10.1, 10.5, or 11.1 exactly
-
Determine if DB2 instance owner user existsCheck for DB2 instance owner account (typically 'db2inst1' or custom name) and verify membership in the db2iadm1 or instance owner group via: id <username> or getent group db2iadm1Affected if A DB2 instance owner user account exists on the system
-
Verify current user contextRun 'whoami' and 'id' to determine if the current user is the DB2 instance owner or belongs to the instance owner groupAffected if The current user is the DB2 instance owner or member of the db2iadm1 group
-
Check for symbolic link manipulation accessInspect filesystem permissions on sensitive directories (such as /tmp, /var/tmp, or directories owned by db2) using 'ls -la <directory>' and check if the db2 instance owner can create symlinks in these locationsAffected if The db2 instance owner has write access to directories where symlinks can be created and pointing to sensitive target files
A system is affected if it runs IBM DB2 version 9.7, 10.1, 10.5, or 11.1 and has a db2 instance owner user account present on the system.
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 DB2 security patches for this vulnerability (contact IBM support for specific patch availability) or implement strict filesystem access controls to prevent db2 instance owners from creating/manipulating symbolic links in sensitive directories.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-1780 — 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-2018-1780 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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