CVE-2018-18556
A privilege escalation issue was discovered in VyOS 1.1.8. The default configuration also allows operator users to execute the pppd binary…
- 9.9CriticalCVSS base score
- 15.4%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 3.2% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 1Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
A privilege escalation issue was discovered in VyOS 1.1.8. The default configuration also allows operator users to execute the pppd binary with elevated (sudo) permissions. Certain input parameters are not properly validated. A malicious operator user can run the binary with elevated permissions and leverage its improper input validation condition to spawn an attacker-controlled shell with root privileges.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list a Metasploit module for it.
Show the exploits1
Metasploit modules1 module
- VyOS restricted-shell Escape and Privilege Escalation (Metasploit module) (opens in a new tab)
exploit/linux/ssh/vyos_restricted_shell_privescRank greatdisclosed 5 Nov 2018
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
- 56 days later
· 56 days later
Published
- 6 years later
· 6 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 | 3.1 | Critical9.9 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 15.4% · top 3.2% of all CVEs (11 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Critical 9.9.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
References3
- https://blog.vyos.io/the-operator-level-is-proved-insecure-and-will-be-removed-in-the-next-releases (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- https://blog.mirch.io/2018/11/05/cve-2018-18556-vyos-privilege-escalation-via-sudo-pppd-for-operator-users/ (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/159234/VyOS-restricted-shell-Escape-Privilege-Escalation.html (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-2018-10276 (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-2018-18556)Record last updated .