CVE-2018-15473

Description

A user enumeration vulnerability flaw was found in OpenSSH, though version 7.7. The vulnerability occurs by not delaying bailout for an invalid authenticated user until after the packet containing the request has been fully parsed. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality.

Statement

Red Hat Product Security has rated this issue as having Low severity. An attacker could use this flaw to determine whether given usernames exist or not on the server, but no further information is disclosed and there is no availability or integrity impact. A future update may address this issue.

Mitigation

Configuring your firewall to limit the origin and/or rate of incoming ssh connections (using the netfilter xt_recent module) will limit the impact of this attack, as it requires a new TCP connection for each username tested. This configuration also provides some protection against brute-force attacks on SSH passwords or keys.

See the following article for more information on limiting access to SSHD: https://access.redhat.com/solutions/8687

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Info alert:Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown

Red HatNVDcve.org
Base Score5.35.35.9
Attack VectorNetworkNetworkNetwork
Attack ComplexityLowLowHigh
Privileges RequiredNoneNoneNone
User InteractionNoneNoneNone
ScopeUnchangedUnchangedUnchanged
ConfidentialityLowLowHigh
Integrity ImpactNoneNoneNone
Availability ImpactNoneNoneNone

Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Confidentiality

Technical Impact: Read Application Data

Frequently Asked Questions

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