Kace Systems Management ApplianceApplication · Quest

CVE-2019-12918

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-11-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance Server Center version 9.1.317 is vulnerable to SQL injection. The affected file is software_library.php and affected parameters are order[0][column] and order[0][dir].

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

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance version 9.1.317 contains a critical SQL injection vulnerability in software_library.php via the order[0][column] and order[0][dir] parameters. These parameters, used for table ordering functionality, do not properly sanitize user input before incorporating it into SQL queries, allowing remote attackers to inject arbitrary SQL commands.

MitigationApply vendor patch or upgrade to a fixed version. If no patch available, implement WAF rules to block malicious order[0][column] and order[0][dir] input patterns, or modify the application code to use parameterized queries for all ORDER BY clauses.

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
Kace Systems Management ApplianceApplication
Affected:= 9.1.317

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:3.1/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. Confirm Quest KACE SMA installation and version
    Access the KACE admin console login page or check system information. The version is typically displayed on the login page footer or in System Settings > Appliance Settings > Version. Alternatively, check the header of any API response from the SMA.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 9.1.317
  2. Verify software_library.php exists
    Access the KACE SMA web directory and confirm software_library.php is present. This file is typically located in /admin/software_library.php or /kss/handlers/software_library.php depending on the installation path.
    Affected if The file software_library.php exists in the KACE web directory and the SMA version is 9.1.317
  3. Confirm web interface is accessible
    Attempt to access the KACE Systems Management Appliance login page or API endpoint over HTTP/HTTPS. The vulnerability requires the web application to be reachable.
    Affected if The KACE SMA web interface is accessible and the version is 9.1.317
  4. Identify table ordering functionality
    Log into the KACE admin console and navigate to the Software Library section. Look for any sortable table columns where ordering can be applied. The vulnerable parameters order[0][column] and order[0][dir] are used by the DataTables jQuery plugin for server-side table ordering.
    Affected if The Software Library page with sortable tables is accessible and the SMA version is 9.1.317

The environment is affected if Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance version 9.1.317 is installed and the Software Library web interface is accessible, since the SQL injection vulnerability exists in the table ordering parameters of software_library.php.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor patch or upgrade to a fixed version. If no patch available, implement WAF rules to block malicious order[0][column] and order[0][dir] input patterns, or modify the application code to use parameterized queries for all ORDER BY clauses.

Fix this in Kace Systems Management Appliance Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2019-12918 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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