CVE-2018-2478
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 · uneditedAn attacker can use specially crafted inputs to execute commands on the host of a TREX / BWA installation, SAP Basis, versions: 7.0 to 7.02, 7.10 to 7.11, 7.30, 7.31, 7.40 and 7.50 to 7.53. Not all commands are possible, only those that can be executed by the <sid>adm user. The commands executed depend upon the privileges of the <sid>adm user.
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 confidenceCommand injection vulnerability in SAP TREX/BWA installation where specially crafted inputs allow execution of arbitrary commands on the host OS. The executed commands are limited to those permissible by the <sid>adm user, with impact varying based on that user's system privileges.
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>= 7.0, <= 7.02>= 7.10, <= 7.11>= 7.50, <= 7.53= 7.30= 7.31= 7.40CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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.
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Identify if SAP TREX or BWA is installedCheck for the presence of TREX or BWA components in the SAP system by reviewing the SAP system landscape directory or checking the SAPMMC snap-in for TREX/BWA processes running on the server.Affected if SAP TREX or BWA is installed on the system.
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Determine the SAP Basis versionExecute the SAP report 'SAPISVER' or check the 'SAPSYSTEM' table in the SAP system, or use transaction code SM51 to view the release version of the SAP Basis kernel.Affected if The SAP Basis version falls within these ranges: 7.0 to 7.02, 7.10 to 7.11, 7.30, 7.31, 7.40, or 7.50 to 7.53.
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Verify the TREX/BWA service is exposed or accessibleReview the TREX configuration files (trex.ini or similar) and network exposure settings to determine if the TREX/BWA HTTP/HTTPS ports are accessible from network segments.Affected if TREX/BWA service ports are accessible over the network without proper restrictions.
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Check the privileges of the <sid>adm operating system userOn the operating system, examine the user settings for the <sid>adm user (where <sid> is the SAP system ID) to determine what operating system privileges this account possesses.Affected if The <sid>adm user has elevated or extensive operating system privileges beyond minimal required functionality.
You are affected if SAP TREX/BWA is installed, your SAP Basis version is within the affected ranges, and the TREX/BWA service is accessible while the <sid>adm user holds elevated OS privileges.
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 SAP security patches for this vulnerability and restrict the privileges of the <sid>adm user to minimize attack surface. Network segmentation of affected SAP systems provides additional defense-in-depth.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-2478 — 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-2018-2478 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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- 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
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