CVE-2018-9065
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 · uneditedIn Lenovo xClarity Administrator versions earlier than 2.1.0, an attacker that gains access to the underlying LXCA file system user may be able to retrieve a credential store containing the service processor user names and passwords for servers previously managed by that LXCA instance, and potentially decrypt those credentials more easily than intended.
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 confidenceLenovo xClarity Administrator versions before 2.1.0 store service processor credentials (usernames and passwords for managed servers) in a credential store file on the file system. An attacker who gains file system access can retrieve this credential store and decrypt the credentials more easily than intended due to weak encryption protection.
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< 2.1.0CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/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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Confirm Lenovo XClarity Administrator is installedLocate the XClarity Administrator installation directory, typically under /opt/lxca or C:\Program Files\Lenovo\XClarity Administrator on the system where it is deployedAffected if The software is present on the system
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Identify the installed versionCheck the version of Lenovo XClarity Administrator by reviewing the version file in the installation directory, or use the lxca --version command if available, or access the admin web interface and view the About sectionAffected if The installed version is any version prior to 2.1.0
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Locate the credential store fileSearch the XClarity Administrator installation directory and configuration folders for files named credential, keystore, credentials.dat, or similar files that appear to store passwords or authentication dataAffected if A credential store file exists in the XClarity Administrator file system and contains service processor usernames and passwords
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Verify weak encryption is in useExamine the credential store file for patterns indicating weak encryption, such as base64 encoding, simple obfuscation, or known weak cryptographic algorithms rather than strong password-based encryptionAffected if The credential store uses weak or inadequate encryption protection
A system is affected if Lenovo XClarity Administrator version below 2.1.0 is installed and a credential store file containing service processor credentials with weak encryption exists on the file system.
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 data2.1.0
Upgrade Lenovo xClarity Administrator to version 2.1.0 or later to resolve the weak credential encryption. After upgrading, consider rotating the stored service processor credentials as a precautionary measure.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 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 $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-9065 — 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-2018-9065 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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