CVE-2018-1785
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 Tivoli Storage Manager (IBM Spectrum Protect 7.1 and 8.1) uses weaker than expected cryptographic algorithms that could allow an attacker to decrypt sensitive information. IBM X-Force ID: 148870.
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 · moderate confidenceIBM Tivoli Storage Manager (Spectrum Protect 7.1 and 8.1) implements weaker than expected cryptographic algorithms, allowing attackers to decrypt sensitive data stored or managed by the backup system.
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>= 7.1.0.0, <= 7.1.8.3>= 8.1.0.0, <= 8.1.4.1>= 8.1.0.0, <= 8.1.4.2>= 7.1.0.0, <= 7.1.8.0>= 7.1.0.0, <= 7.1.8.2>= 8.1.0.0, <= 8.1.4.0>= 8.1.0.0, <= 8.1.4.1CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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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Check IBM Spectrum Protect Client versionOn Windows, run 'dsmc -v' or check registry under HKLM\Software\IBM\Tivoli\TSM\. On Linux/Unix, run 'dsmc -v' or check /opt/tivoli/tsm/client/ba/bin/dsmcAffected if The reported version falls within 7.1.0.0-7.1.8.3, 8.1.0.0-8.1.4.1, or 8.1.0.0-8.1.4.2
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Check IBM Spectrum Protect For Virtual Environments versionRun 'dsmvirtual -v' on the virtual environment host, or check the installed package version via system package manager (rpm -q tsm-ve or similar)Affected if The reported version falls within 7.1.0.0-7.1.8.0, 7.1.0.0-7.1.8.2, 8.1.0.0-8.1.4.0, or 8.1.0.0-8.1.4.1
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Confirm encryption is in useReview dsm.opt or dsm.sys config files for ENCRYPTION YES, or check backup schedules that include encrypted storage poolsAffected if Encryption is enabled - the weak algorithms affect all encrypted data handled by the affected versions regardless of specific config
If either the Spectrum Protect Client or Virtual Environments component is installed at a version matching the affected ranges, the environment uses weaker than expected cryptographic algorithms and is vulnerable.
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 dataUpgrade to a patched version of IBM Spectrum Protect that addresses the weak cryptographic algorithms. Verify all encryption configurations meet current cryptographic standards.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-1785 — 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-2018-1785 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