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Netscaler Application Delivery Controller FirmwareOperating system · Citrix

CVE-2018-6809

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-03-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
NetScaler ADC 10.5, 11.0, 11.1, and 12.0, and NetScaler Gateway 10.5, 11.0, 11.1, and 12.0 allow remote attackers to gain privilege on a target system.

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

Critical privilege escalation vulnerability in NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway allows remote attackers to gain elevated privileges on affected systems. The vulnerability affects versions 10.5, 11.0, 11.1, and 12.0 of both products.

MitigationApply vendor-provided patches for CVE-2018-6809 or upgrade to a patched version of NetScaler ADC/Gateway. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to management interfaces and monitor for unauthorized admin activity.

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 Controller FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 10.5= 11.0= 11.1= 12.0
Netscaler Gateway FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 10.5= 11.0= 11.1= 12.0

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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/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 NetScaler ADC firmware version
    Run 'show version' command in the NetScaler ADC CLI or check the firmware version displayed in the management GUI under System > Information
    Affected if The version displayed is 10.5, 11.0, 11.1, or 12.0
  2. Identify NetScaler Gateway firmware version
    Run 'show version' command in the NetScaler Gateway CLI or check the firmware version in the management interface under System > Information
    Affected if The version displayed is 10.5, 11.0, 11.1, or 12.0
  3. Confirm which NetScaler product is deployed
    Check the product type in the NetScaler management interface or run 'show hardwareinfo' to identify if the system is running NetScaler ADC, NetScaler Gateway, or both
    Affected if The product is NetScaler ADC or NetScaler Gateway and the version falls within the affected range
  4. Verify management interface accessibility
    Confirm whether the NetScaler management interfaces (GUI ports 80/443, SSH port 22) are accessible from network segments beyond the trusted admin network
    Affected if Management interfaces are exposed to untrusted networks, increasing the exploitability of the privilege escalation flaw

You are affected if your NetScaler ADC or Gateway is running firmware version 10.5, 11.0, 11.1, or 12.0 and the management interface is network-accessible to potential attackers.

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

Apply vendor-provided patches for CVE-2018-6809 or upgrade to a patched version of NetScaler ADC/Gateway. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to management interfaces and monitor for unauthorized admin activity.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Upgrade to latest available NetScaler firmware (12.1, 13.0, or later) or install the latest security patch/build for your current release branch (10.5/11.0/11.1/12.0) that includes CVE-2018-6809 fixes

  1. 1. Identify the current NetScaler ADC or Gateway firmware version using 'show version' or through the management console
  2. 2. Download the latest available NetScaler firmware from the Citrix downloads portal (support.citrix.com) - look for versions beyond 12.0 that include security patches for CVE-2018-6809
  3. 3. Review Citrix release notes for build numbers addressing this vulnerability (CVE-2018-6809 was addressed in subsequent builds of each affected release branch)
  4. 4. Plan maintenance window - upgrade during low-traffic period
  5. 5. Back up current configuration using 'save ns config' and export via GUI or 'create backup'
  6. 6. Upload new firmware via GUI (System > Firmware) or CLI ('install firmware')
  7. 7. Reboot the appliance after firmware installation
  8. 8. Verify successful upgrade with 'show version' and confirm system正常运行
Caveat Review Citrix release notes for your target version - some upgrades may require configuration migration or have deprecated features; firmware upgrades typically require downtime

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

Fix this in Netscaler Application Delivery Controller Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
44.0 hours of engineering $7,720
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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-2018-6809 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