Spectrum ScaleApplication · Ibm

CVE-2018-1782

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-09-19
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
67/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

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 · unedited
IBM GPFS (IBM Spectrum Scale 5.0.1.0 and 5.0.1.1) allows a local, unprivileged user to cause a kernel panic on a node running GPFS by accessing a file that is stored on a GPFS file system with mmap, or by executing a crafted file stored on a GPFS file system. IBM X-Force ID: 148805.

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 confidence

A local unprivileged user can trigger a kernel panic (complete system crash) on nodes running IBM GPFS (Spectrum Scale versions 5.0.1.0 and 5.0.1.1) by either memory-mapping a file via mmap() or executing a specially crafted file stored on a GPFS-mounted file system, causing denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade IBM Spectrum Scale to a version beyond 5.0.1.1 that includes the fix, or restrict local unprivileged user access to GPFS-mounted file systems until patching is feasible.

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
Spectrum ScaleApplication
Affected:= 5.0.1.0= 5.0.1.1

CVSS 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
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if IBM Spectrum Scale (GPFS) is installed
    Run command to query the installed GPFS package version, such as 'mmfsadm version' or check the package manager for IBM Spectrum Scale components
    Affected if The product is not IBM Spectrum Scale/GPFS, the check does not apply
  2. Verify the installed Spectrum Scale version
    Compare your installed GPFS version against the affected versions 5.0.1.0 and 5.0.1.1 specifically
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 5.0.1.0 or 5.0.1.1
  3. Determine if GPFS file systems are mounted and active
    Check for mounted GPFS file systems using 'df -t gpfs' or 'mmmount' listings, indicating active GPFS usage
    Affected if No GPFS file systems are mounted, the vulnerable code path is not reachable
  4. Confirm unprivileged user access to GPFS mounts exists
    Verify that local unprivileged users have read or execute access to GPFS-mounted directories, which enables the mmap() or file execution attack vector
    Affected if All local users are restricted from accessing GPFS mounts, the attack surface is reduced

You are affected if IBM Spectrum Scale version 5.0.1.0 or 5.0.1.1 is installed with GPFS file systems actively mounted and accessible to unprivileged local users.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade IBM Spectrum Scale to a version beyond 5.0.1.1 that includes the fix, or restrict local unprivileged user access to GPFS-mounted file systems until patching is feasible.

Fix this in Spectrum Scale Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
Get help mitigating

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 locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-1782 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-1782 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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