CVE-2018-2421
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 · uneditedSAP Internet Graphics Server (IGS) Portwatcher, 7.20, 7.20EXT, 7.45, 7.49, 7.53, allows an attacker to prevent legitimate users from accessing a service, either by crashing or flooding the service.
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 confidenceSAP Internet Graphics Server (IGS) Portwatcher contains a denial-of-service vulnerability in versions 7.20, 7.20EXT, 7.45, 7.49, and 7.53. An unauthenticated attacker can exploit this to prevent legitimate users from accessing the service, either by crashing the Portwatcher service or by flooding it with malicious requests.
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= 7.20= 7.20ext= 7.45= 7.49= 7.53CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if SAP IGS Portwatcher is installedCheck for the presence of SAP Internet Graphics Server installation directory or look for process 'portwatcher' or 'igwportwatcher' running on the system. On Windows, check Services for 'SAP Internet Graphics Server Portwatcher'. On Unix, use 'ps -ef | grep -i portwatcher'Affected if Portwatcher process or service is found running on the system
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Determine Portwatcher versionLocate the IGS installation and check version information, typically found in the IGS executable or version file. Common locations include the 'exe' or 'bin' subdirectory within the SAP IGS installation path, or query the service directly if it supports version inquiryAffected if Version matches 7.20, 7.20EXT, 7.45, 7.49, or 7.53 exactly
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Verify Portwatcher is network accessibleCheck if Portwatcher is listening on configured ports (default IGS ports are typically 4000-4004 range). Use 'netstat -an' or 'ss -tlnp' to list listening ports and identify which are bound to external interfaces versus localhost onlyAffected if Portwatcher is listening on external/network interfaces, making it reachable by unauthenticated attackers
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Review Portwatcher logs for crash indicatorsExamine IGS log files in the 'work' or 'log' directory within the SAP IGS installation for recent crash dumps, unexpected restarts, or error messages related to Portwatcher. Check operating system event logs for application failuresAffected if Recent crashes or abnormal restarts of Portwatcher service are found in logs
System is affected if SAP IGS Portwatcher is installed and the exact version is 7.20, 7.20EXT, 7.45, 7.49, or 7.53, regardless of whether it has already crashed from exploitation.
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 the relevant SAP security patch for this vulnerability. Organizations should review SAP Security Notes and implement appropriate updates to the affected IGS Portwatcher component.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-2421 — 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-2018-2421 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