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Web ServicesApplication · Microstrategy

CVE-2018-6885

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-05-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.4 / 10.11 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 issue was discovered in MicroStrategy Web Services (the Microsoft Office plugin) before 10.4 Hotfix 7, and before 10.11. The vulnerability is unauthenticated and leads to access to the asset files with the MicroStrategy user privileges. (This includes the credentials to access the admin dashboard which may lead to RCE.) The path traversal is located in a SOAP request in the web service component.

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

Unauthenticated path traversal vulnerability in MicroStrategy Web Services SOAP component allows attackers to access sensitive asset files including credentials by manipulating path sequences in SOAP requests, potentially enabling RCE through admin dashboard access.

MitigationUpgrade to MicroStrategy 10.4 Hotfix 7 or later, or 10.11 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict access to the web services component via network segmentation or firewall rules.

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
Web ServicesApplication
Affected:< 10.4>= 10.5, < 10.11= 10.4

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 MicroStrategy Web Services installation
    Check for MicroStrategy Web application files or running services. Common paths include C:\Program Files\MicroStrategy\Web or /opt/microstrategy/Web. Look for the 'Web Services' or 'SOAP' component in the installation directory.
    Affected if MicroStrategy Web Services is installed and the SOAP component is present
  2. Determine installed MicroStrategy version
    Check the version of MicroStrategy Web. The version is typically stored in a version file or can be retrieved from the MicroStrategy Administrator. Common locations include a version.txt file in the Web folder or check the 'About' page in MicroStrategy Enterprise Manager.
    Affected if The installed version is < 10.4, = 10.4, or >= 10.5 but < 10.11
  3. Verify SOAP endpoint is exposed
    Check if the MicroStrategy Web Services SOAP endpoint is accessible without authentication. The typical endpoint URL pattern is /MicroStrategyWS/axis2/services or similar SOAP service paths. Attempt a GET request to common SOAP paths to confirm accessibility.
    Affected if The SOAP endpoint is reachable over the network without authentication (this is the default unauthenticated access vector for the vulnerability)
  4. Check network exposure of Web Services
    Review firewall rules and network configuration to determine if the MicroStrategy Web Services are accessible from untrusted networks. Verify which IP addresses or subnets can reach the SOAP endpoint.
    Affected if The SOAP endpoint is accessible from untrusted networks or the internet

A user is affected if they have MicroStrategy Web Services installed with a version before 10.11 (including version 10.4 and versions below 10.4) and the SOAP endpoint is 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 10.4 / 10.11 or later
Fixed in 10.410.11
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to MicroStrategy 10.4 Hotfix 7 or later, or 10.11 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict access to the web services component via network segmentation or firewall rules.

Recommended fix High confidence

10.4 Hotfix 7 or 10.11 and later

  1. Identify your current MicroStrategy Web Services version by checking the administration console or the installed software
  2. For versions < 10.4: Upgrade to version 10.4 and apply Hotfix 7, or upgrade directly to version 10.11 or later
  3. For versions 10.5 through 10.10: Upgrade to version 10.11 or later (recommended) or upgrade to version 10.4 and apply Hotfix 7
  4. For version 10.4 without hotfix: Apply Hotfix 7 to version 10.4, or upgrade to version 10.11 or later
  5. After upgrading, verify the patch was applied successfully by checking the MicroStrategy version information in the administration console
  6. Test that the SOAP endpoint no longer accepts path traversal requests (e.g., attempts to access ../../etc/passwd should fail)
Caveat Standard MicroStrategy upgrade considerations apply - review release notes for migration requirements, custom configurations may need re-testing, ensure third-party integrations are compatible with the target version

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

Fix this in Web Services Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2018-6885 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data