CVE-2018-18435
KioWare Server version 4.9.6 and older installs by default to "C:\kioware_com" with weak folder permissions granting any user full…
- 7.8HighCVSS base score
- 1.4%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 28% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 1Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
KioWare Server version 4.9.6 and older installs by default to "C:\kioware_com" with weak folder permissions granting any user full permission "Everyone: (F)" to the contents of the directory and it's sub-folders. In addition, the program installs a service called "KWSService" which runs as "Localsystem", this will allow any user to escalate privileges to "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM" by substituting the service's binary with a malicious one.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list an Exploit-DB entry for it. A reference of the record is tagged as an exploit.
Show the exploits2
Exploit-DB1 entry
- KioWare Server Version 4.9.6 - Weak Folder Permissions Privilege Escalation (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 46093local, windowspublished 7 Jan 2019Not verified
References tagged exploit1 reference
- 46093 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBx_transferred
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
- 5 months later
· 5 months later
Published
- 5 years later
· 5 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.0 | High7.8 | CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 1.4% · top 28% of all CVEs (11 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.8.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
5
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/151031/KioWare-Server-4.9.6-Privilege-Escalation.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- 46093 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBx_transferred
- https://m.kioware.com/news/kioware-press-releases/kioware_server_security_patch_update (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- https://www.kioware.com/patch.aspx (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- https://github.com/active-labs/Advisories/blob/master/2019/ACTIVE-2019-002.md (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2018-10163 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2018-18435)Record last updated .