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Airwatch ConsoleApplication · VMware

CVE-2018-6979

HIGH · 7.4 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-10-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.1.5.6 / 9.2.3.27 or later.
See remediation →
83/100
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
The VMware Workspace ONE Unified Endpoint Management Console (A/W Console) 9.7.x prior to 9.7.0.3, 9.6.x prior to 9.6.0.7, 9.5.x prior to 9.5.0.16, 9.4.x prior to 9.4.0.22, 9.3.x prior to 9.3.0.25, 9.2.x prior to 9.2.3.27, and 9.1.x prior to 9.1.5.6 contains a SAML authentication bypass vulnerability which can be leveraged during device enrollment. This vulnerability may allow for a malicious actor to impersonate an authorized SAML session if certificate-based authentication is enabled. This vulnerability is also relevant if certificate-based authentication is not enabled, but the outcome of exploitation is limited to an information disclosure (Important Severity) in those cases.

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

VMware Workspace ONE UEM Console contains a SAML authentication bypass vulnerability exploitable during device enrollment. A malicious actor can impersonate an authorized SAML session if certificate-based authentication is enabled. Without certificate-based auth, exploitation is limited to information disclosure.

MitigationUpgrade to VMware Workspace ONE versions 9.7.0.3, 9.6.0.7, 9.5.0.16, 9.4.0.22, 9.3.0.25, 9.2.3.27, or 9.1.5.6 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

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
Airwatch ConsoleApplication
Affected:>= 9.1.0.0, < 9.1.5.6>= 9.2.0.0, < 9.2.3.27>= 9.3.0.0, < 9.3.0.25>= 9.4.0.0, < 9.4.0.22>= 9.5.0.0, < 9.5.0.16>= 9.6.0.0, < 9.6.0.7>= 9.7.0.0, < 9.7.0.3

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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 installed VMware Airwatch Console version
    Access the UEM Console admin panel and navigate to System > Settings > General > About, or check the installer package version used in your deployment
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: 9.1.0.0-9.1.5.5, 9.2.0.0-9.2.3.26, 9.3.0.0-9.3.0.24, 9.4.0.0-9.4.0.21, 9.5.0.0-9.5.0.15, 9.6.0.0-9.6.0.6, or 9.7.0.0-9.7.0.2
  2. Verify if SAML authentication is configured
    Check the UEM Console under Groups & Settings > All Settings > System > Enterprise Integration > SAML to determine if SAML is enabled for device enrollment
    Affected if SAML authentication is enabled for device enrollment workflows
  3. Confirm if certificate-based authentication is enabled
    Within the SAML settings, examine whether certificate-based authentication (Client Certificate Authentication) is selected as an authentication method
    Affected if Certificate-based authentication is enabled in conjunction with SAML - this enables the full authentication bypass; if only SAML without certificates is used, only information disclosure is possible

Your environment is affected if the installed Airwatch Console version is within any of the vulnerable version ranges AND SAML authentication is configured, with the highest severity applying when certificate-based authentication is also 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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 9.1.5.6 / 9.2.3.27 / 9.3.0.25 or later
Fixed in 9.1.5.69.2.3.279.3.0.25
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to VMware Workspace ONE versions 9.7.0.3, 9.6.0.7, 9.5.0.16, 9.4.0.22, 9.3.0.25, 9.2.3.27, or 9.1.5.6 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

Fix this in Airwatch Console Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
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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-2018-6979 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