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CoturnApplication · Coturn Project

CVE-2018-4059

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-03-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.5.0.9 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
An exploitable unsafe default configuration vulnerability exists in the TURN server function of coTURN prior to version 4.5.0.9. By default, the TURN server runs an unauthenticated telnet admin portal on the loopback interface. This can provide administrator access to the TURN server configuration, which can lead to additional attacks. An attacker who can get access to the telnet port can gain administrator access to the TURN server.

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

coTURN TURN server versions prior to 4.5.0.9 ship with an unauthenticated telnet admin portal enabled on the loopback interface by default. This unsafe configuration allows any local or remote attacker who can reach the telnet port to gain full administrative access to the TURN server, enabling modification of server settings and potentially facilitating further attacks against the infrastructure.

MitigationUpgrade coTURN to version 4.5.0.9 or later which disables the insecure telnet admin interface by default, or explicitly disable the telnet portal and enforce authentication in the configuration.

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
CoturnApplication
Affected:< 4.5.0.9

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 coturn installation and version
    Run 'turnadmin --version' or check the package manager (dpkg -l coturn, rpm -qi coturn) to determine the installed version of coturn
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 4.5.0.9 (e.g., 4.5.0.8, 4.5.0.7, etc.)
  2. Verify if telnet admin port is listening
    Run 'netstat -tlnp | grep 57778' or 'ss -tlnp | grep 57778' to check if the telnet admin interface port (57778) is open and listening
    Affected if Port 57778 is listening on loopback (127.0.0.1) or any interface, indicating the telnet admin portal is active
  3. Examine coturn configuration file for telnet settings
    Inspect /etc/turnserver.conf or the active configuration file for directives such as 'telnet-port' or 'admin-port' without corresponding authentication enforcement
    Affected if A telnet or admin port is defined without authentication (no 'admin-user' and 'admin-password' settings present)
  4. Confirm telnet connectivity to admin interface
    Run 'telnet 127.0.0.1 57778' locally and observe if an unauthenticated command prompt is presented without requiring credentials
    Affected if The telnet session connects and provides administrative access without prompting for any username or password

A system is affected if running a coturn version prior to 4.5.0.9 with the telnet admin interface (port 57778) enabled and accessible without authentication.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.5.0.9 or later
Fixed in 4.5.0.9
Interim mitigation

Upgrade coTURN to version 4.5.0.9 or later which disables the insecure telnet admin interface by default, or explicitly disable the telnet portal and enforce authentication in the configuration.

Recommended fix High confidence

Coturn 4.5.0.9 or later

  1. 1. Back up the current Coturn configuration file (typically /etc/turnserver.conf or /usr/local/etc/turnserver.conf)
  2. 2. Download Coturn version 4.5.0.9 or later from the official repository (https://github.com/coturn/coturn)
  3. 3. Stop the Coturn service: sudo systemctl stop coturn or sudo service coturn stop
  4. 4. Install the upgraded Coturn package or compile from source
  5. 5. Restore the backed-up configuration file
  6. 6. Start the Coturn service: sudo systemctl start coturn or sudo service coturn start
  7. 7. Verify the telnet admin portal is no longer accessible or is properly secured with authentication
  8. 8. Test TURN server functionality to confirm normal operation
Caveat Review release notes for any configuration syntax changes between your current version and 4.5.0.9; test in staging before production deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Coturn Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
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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-2018-4059 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data