CVE-2018-6513
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 · uneditedPuppet Enterprise 2016.4.x prior to 2016.4.12, Puppet Enterprise 2017.3.x prior to 2017.3.7, Puppet Enterprise 2018.1.x prior to 2018.1.1, Puppet Agent 1.10.x prior to 1.10.13, Puppet Agent 5.3.x prior to 5.3.7, and Puppet Agent 5.5.x prior to 5.5.2, were vulnerable to an attack where an unprivileged user on Windows agents could write custom facts that can escalate privileges on the next puppet run. This was possible through the loading of shared libraries from untrusted paths.
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 confidencePuppet Enterprise and Puppet Agent versions prior to the patched releases contained a vulnerability where unprivileged users on Windows agents could write custom facts that load shared libraries from untrusted paths, enabling privilege escalation on the next puppet run.
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>= 1.10.0, < 1.10.13>= 5.3.0, < 5.3.7>= 5.5.0, < 5.5.2>= 2016.4.0, < 2016.4.12>= 2017.3.0, < 2017.3.7>= 2018.1.0, < 2018.1.1CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Windows operating systemRun 'systeminfo' or check OS name via 'Get-ComputerInfo | Select-Object OsName' in PowerShellAffected if The target is not a Windows agent (this vulnerability only affects Windows)
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Determine installed Puppet Agent versionRun 'puppet --version' in command prompt or PowerShellAffected if The version falls within < 1.10.13, or >= 1.10.0 and < 5.3.7, or >= 5.3.0 and < 5.3.7, or >= 5.5.0 and < 5.5.2
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Determine installed Puppet Enterprise version (if applicable)Run 'puppet-enterprise --version' or check installed programs in Control Panel for Puppet Enterprise versionAffected if The version falls within >= 2016.4.0 and < 2016.4.12, or >= 2017.3.0 and < 2017.3.7, or >= 2018.1.0 and < 2018.1.1
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Inspect custom facts directory permissionsNavigate to the custom facts directory (typically C:\ProgramData\PuppetLabs\puppet\etc\facts.d\ or C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\PuppetLabs\puppet\etc\facts.d\) and check write permissions with 'icacls' or File Explorer propertiesAffected if Unprivileged users have write access to the custom facts directory and Puppet is configured to load external facts
You are affected if you are running a Windows Puppet Agent or Enterprise version within the affected ranges AND unprivileged users can write to directories where custom facts are stored or loaded from.
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 data1.10.135.3.75.5.2
Upgrade Puppet Enterprise to 2016.4.12+/2017.3.7+/2018.1.1+ and Puppet Agent to 1.10.13+/5.3.7+/5.5.2+ to remediate the library loading vulnerability.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-6513 — 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-2018-6513 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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