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Data ProtectionApplication · Ibm

CVE-2018-1987

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-08-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 8.1.6.0 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 Spectrum Protect for Enterprise Resource Planning 7.1 and 8.1, if tracing is activated, the IBM Spectrum Protect node password may be displayed in plain text in the ERP trace file. IBM X-Force ID: 154280.

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

When tracing is activated in IBM Spectrum Protect for Enterprise Resource Planning 7.1 and 8.1, node passwords are written in plain text to trace files. This exposes credentials to anyone with access to the trace output, representing an information disclosure vulnerability.

MitigationDisable or restrict tracing in production environments. If tracing is required, ensure trace files are protected with strict access controls and consider implementing log scrubbing to mask sensitive credentials before storage.

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
Data ProtectionApplication
Affected:>= 7.1.3.0, <= 7.1.3.1>= 8.1.0.0, <= 8.1.4.0>= 8.1.0.0, <= 8.1.6.0

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/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 checks

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

  1. Identify the installed IBM Data Protection version
    Use the product's version inquiry command or check the installed software inventory for IBM Data Protection
    Affected if The installed version falls within 7.1.3.0 to 7.1.3.1, 8.1.0.0 to 8.1.4.0, or 8.1.0.0 to 8.1.6.0
  2. Determine whether tracing is enabled
    Review the product configuration settings or trace-related configuration files to check if tracing is currently activated
    Affected if Tracing is enabled or has been recently activated in the environment
  3. Locate and inspect trace output files
    Access the trace file directory and examine trace files for any readable node password strings
    Affected if Trace files contain plain text node passwords or credential-like strings in the output

A user is affected if they are running a vulnerable version of IBM Data Protection AND have tracing enabled, with trace files containing exposed node credentials.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 8.1.6.0
Interim mitigation

Disable or restrict tracing in production environments. If tracing is required, ensure trace files are protected with strict access controls and consider implementing log scrubbing to mask sensitive credentials before storage.

Fix this in Data Protection Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2018-1987 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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