# CVE-2018-0152: Privilege escalation in Cisco IOS XE Software

> Authenticated attackers can gain elevated privileges on Cisco IOS XE devices by exploiting session privilege level persistence in the web UI.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 28 Mar 2018
- **Updated:** 2 Dec 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4jvx-6g9p-mgxw

## What is CVE-2018-0152?

CVE-2018-0152 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, published on 28 Mar 2018. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the web-based user interface (web UI) of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to gain elevated privileges on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because the affected software does not reset the privilege level for each web UI session. An attacker who has valid credentials for an affected device could exploit this vulnerability by remotely accessing a VTY line to the device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to access an affected device with the privileges of the user who previously logged in to the web UI. This vulnerability affects Cisco devices that are running a vulnerable release of Cisco IOS XE Software, if the HTTP Server feature is enabled and authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) authorization is not configured for EXEC sessions. The default state of the HTTP Server feature is version-dependent. This vulnerability was introduced in Cisco IOS XE Software Release 16.1.1. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvf71769.

Weakness: CWE-613 (DEPRECATED: Insufficient Session Expiration), CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-0152?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Ios Xe.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-0152?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-0152 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-0152 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-0152 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Ios Xe

- [CVE-2023-20198](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20198/): Cisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-0151](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0151/): Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software Quality of Service Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-20273](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20273/): Cisco IOS XE Web UI Command Injection (high 7.2, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-20188](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20188/): Hardcoded credentials in Cisco IOS XE Software (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2021-34770](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-34770/): Cisco IOS XE Software for Catalyst 9000 Family Wireless Controllers CAPWAP Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-0152 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-0152 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, published on 28 Mar 2018. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-0152 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Ios Xe. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0152/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0152/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-0152
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-0152
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-0152

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0152/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.