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Netscaler Application Delivery ControllerApplication · Citrix

CVE-2018-5314

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-03-01
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Command injection vulnerability in Citrix NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway 11.0 before build 70.16, 11.1 before build 55.13, and 12.0 before build 53.13; and the NetScaler Load Balancing instance distributed with NetScaler SD-WAN/CloudBridge 4000, 4100, 5000 and 5100 WAN Optimization Edition 9.3.0 allows remote attackers to execute a system command or read arbitrary files via an SSH login prompt.

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

Command injection vulnerability in Citrix NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary system commands or read arbitrary files via the SSH login prompt. The vulnerability affects multiple versions across NetScaler ADC, NetScaler Gateway, and NetScaler SD-WAN/CloudBridge products.

MitigationUpgrade to Citrix NetScaler ADC/Gateway build 70.16 (11.0), 55.13 (11.1), or 53.13 (12.0); and apply appropriate patches for SD-WAN/CloudBridge 9.3.0.

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
Netscaler Application Delivery ControllerApplication
Affected:= 11.0= 11.1= 12.0
Netscaler GatewayApplication
Affected:= 11.0= 11.1= 12.0
Netscaler Sd WanApplication
Affected:= 9.3.0

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

CVSS:3.0/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 checks

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

  1. Identify the Citrix NetScaler product type
    Log into the NetScaler CLI and run 'show ns version' or 'show hardwareinfo' to determine if the device is NetScaler ADC, NetScaler Gateway, or NetScaler SD-WAN
    Affected if The product is NetScaler ADC, NetScaler Gateway, or NetScaler SD-WAN
  2. Check the installed NetScaler version
    Run 'show ns version' at the NetScaler CLI to obtain the exact build version number
    Affected if The version is 11.0, 11.1, or 12.0 for ADC or Gateway, or 9.3.0 for SD-WAN
  3. Confirm SSH service is enabled
    Run 'show ssh' or check network listeners to verify the SSH daemon is running and accessible on the device
    Affected if SSH service is enabled and reachable on the device

The environment is affected if it runs NetScaler ADC or Gateway versions 11.0, 11.1, or 12.0, or SD-WAN version 9.3.0, with SSH access enabled.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to Citrix NetScaler ADC/Gateway build 70.16 (11.0), 55.13 (11.1), or 53.13 (12.0); and apply appropriate patches for SD-WAN/CloudBridge 9.3.0.

Fix this in Netscaler Application Delivery Controller Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,080
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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-2018-5314 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