CVE-2019-18988TeamViewer Desktop through 14.7.1965 allows a bypass of remote-login access control because the same key is used for different customers'…
- 7.0HighCVSS base score
- 4.7%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 8.0% of all CVEs
- YesKnown exploitedin CISA's KEV since 3 Nov 2021
- 1Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
TeamViewer Desktop through 14.7.1965 allows a bypass of remote-login access control because the same key is used for different customers' installations. It used a shared AES key for all installations since at least as far back as v7.0.43148, and used it for at least OptionsPasswordAES in the current version of the product. If an attacker were to know this key, they could decrypt protect information stored in the registry or configuration files of TeamViewer. With versions before v9.x , this allowed for attackers to decrypt the Unattended Access password to the system (which allows for remote login to the system as well as headless file browsing). The latest version still uses the same key for OptionPasswordAES but appears to have changed how the Unattended Access password is stored. While in most cases an attacker requires an existing session on a system, if the registry/configuration keys were stored off of the machine (such as in a file share or online), an attacker could then decrypt the required password to login to the system.
Exploited in the wild
CISA lists this vulnerability in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as TeamViewer Desktop Bypass Remote Login Vulnerability.
- Added
- 3 Nov 2021
- Fix due (US federal)
- 3 May 2022
- Used by ransomware
- Not known
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
ENISA's EU Vulnerability Database lists it as exploited, from CISA's KEV, since 3 Nov 2021.
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. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: it is being exploited.
Show the exploits1
Metasploit modules1 module
- Windows Gather TeamViewer Passwords (Metasploit module) (opens in a new tab)
post/windows/gather/credentials/teamviewer_passwordsRank normal
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
- 3 months later
· 3 months later
Published
- 21 months later
· 21 months later
Added to CISA KEV
Known exploited in the wild
- 4 years later
· 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CISA-ADPADP (enrichment) | 3.1 | High7.0 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | High7.0 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 4.7% · top 8.0% of all CVEs (13 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.0.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
References5
- https://community.teamviewer.com/t5/Knowledge-Base/tkb-p/Knowledgebase?threadtype=label&labels=Security (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://whynotsecurity.com/blog/teamviewer/ (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://twitter.com/Blurbdust/status/1224212682594770946?s=20 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://community.teamviewer.com/t5/Announcements/Specification-on-CVE-2019-18988/td-p/82264 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2019-18988 (opens in a new tab)government-resource
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)
- CISA KEV catalog (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2019-8642 (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-2019-18988)Record last updated .