CVE-2018-9859
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 · uneditedThe path of Whale update service was unquoted in NAVER Whale before 1.0.40.7. This vulnerability can be used for persistent privilege escalation if it's available to create an executable file with System privilege by other vulnerable applications.
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 confidenceNAVER Whale browser update service contains an unquoted service path vulnerability (Windows service binary path without quotes). An attacker who can place a malicious executable in an intermediate path directory could achieve execution with System privileges due to Windows service path parsing behavior.
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< 1.0.40.7CVSS 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
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if Navercorp Whale browser is installedLook for Whale browser installation in common locations such as C:\Program Files\Naver\Whale or check Add/Remove Programs for Naver WhaleAffected if Whale browser is installed on the system
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Identify the Whale update serviceOpen Services console (services.msc) and search for a service related to Whale or Naver update functionality, or enumerate services in the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services for names containing 'Whale' or 'Naver'Affected if A Whale or Naver update service exists on the system
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Inspect the service binary pathIn the registry, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\<service_name> and examine the ImagePath value to see the full executable path for the serviceAffected if The service exists and has an ImagePath value configured
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Determine if the path is unquotedExamine the ImagePath string value - check if the path contains spaces and verify whether it is enclosed in quotation marksAffected if The path contains spaces and is NOT wrapped in quotation marks (e.g., C:\Program Files\Naver\Whale\update.exe instead of "C:\Program Files\Naver\Whale\update.exe")
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Confirm the installed Whale versionCheck the version of the Whale browser executable in its installation directory or via the Windows Programs and Features list - compare against the affected version rangeAffected if The installed version is earlier than 1.0.40.7
User is affected if Whale browser is installed with a version lower than 1.0.40.7 AND the Whale update service exists with an unquoted path containing spaces.
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 data1.0.40.7
Configure the service to use a quoted executable path in the Windows registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\<servicename>\ImagePath) and ensure the service runs under appropriate least-privilege account rather than SYSTEM if possible.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-9859 — 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-2018-9859 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data