Chassis Management Module FirmwareOperating system · Lenovo

CVE-2018-9073

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-11-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.0.0 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Lenovo Chassis Management Module (CMM) prior to version 2.0.0 utilizes a hardcoded encryption key to protect certain secrets. Possession of the key can allow an attacker that has already compromised the server to decrypt these secrets.

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

Lenovo Chassis Management Module (CMM) versions prior to 2.0.0 contain a hardcoded encryption key used to protect certain sensitive secrets stored on the system. An attacker who has already achieved code execution or server compromise can recover this hardcoded key and decrypt the protected secrets, potentially exposing credentials or other confidential data.

MitigationUpgrade Lenovo Chassis Management Module to version 2.0.0 or later to remove the hardcoded encryption key. If upgrading is not immediately possible, restrict physical and network access to the CMM management interface to reduce the attack surface.

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
Chassis Management Module FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 2.0.0

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

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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. Check Lenovo CMM firmware version via web interface
    Log into the Chassis Management Module web interface and navigate to the firmware information or system status page to view the installed firmware version
    Affected if The displayed firmware version is below 2.0.0 (for example, 1.x.x or any version number less than 2.0.0)
  2. Check Lenovo CMM firmware version via CLI
    Access the CMM command-line interface via SSH or serial console and run the appropriate command to display firmware version information, such as 'show firmware' or 'version'
    Affected if The reported firmware version is prior to 2.0.0
  3. Identify CMM model and confirm it is a Lenovo product
    Locate the physical chassis or documentation that identifies the Lenovo Chassis Management Module model and confirm it uses the affected firmware
    Affected if The device is a Lenovo CMM running firmware versions before 2.0.0
  4. Check for evidence of prior compromise
    Review system logs, audit trails, or security monitoring alerts for signs of unauthorized code execution or server compromise that could have enabled an attacker to recover the hardcoded key
    Affected if Evidence exists of prior unauthorized access or code execution on the CMM system

A system is affected if it runs Lenovo Chassis Management Module firmware version 1.x.x or any version lower than 2.0.0, especially if there is any indication that an attacker may have already gained code execution on that system.

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 2.0.0 or later
Fixed in 2.0.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Lenovo Chassis Management Module to version 2.0.0 or later to remove the hardcoded encryption key. If upgrading is not immediately possible, restrict physical and network access to the CMM management interface to reduce the attack surface.

Fix this in Chassis Management Module Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-9073 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-9073 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