# CVE-2018-0238: Auth bypass in Cisco UCS Director

> Authenticated attackers can bypass role checks to view and modify all virtual machines in the UCS Director portal.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.9 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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:** 19 Apr 2018
- **Updated:** 29 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jr59-qj3r-wcp8

## What is CVE-2018-0238?

CVE-2018-0238 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Cisco UCS Director, published on 19 Apr 2018. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the role-based resource checking functionality of the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) Director could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to view unauthorized information for any virtual machine in the UCS Director end-user portal and perform any permitted operations on any virtual machine. The permitted operations can be configured for the end user on the virtual machines with either of the following settings: The virtual machine is associated to a Virtual Data Center (VDC) that has an end user self-service policy attached to the VDC. The end user role has VM Management Actions settings configured under User Permissions. This is a global configuration, so all the virtual machines visible in the end-user portal will have the VM management actions available. The vulnerability is due to improper user authentication checks. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by logging in to the UCS Director with a modified username and valid password. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain visibility into and perform actions against all virtual machines in the UCS Director end-user portal of the affected system. This vulnerability affects Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) Director releases 6.0 and 6.5 prior to patch 3 that are in a default configuration. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvh53501.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-0238?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Unified Computing System Director.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-0238?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-0238 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-0238 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-0238 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco UCS Director

- [CVE-2017-3801](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-3801/): Privilege escalation in Cisco UCS Director versions 6.0.0.0 and 6.0.0.1 (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2018-0219](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0219/): Cross-site scripting in Cisco UCS Director (medium 6.1)
- [CVE-2017-3868](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-3868/): Cross-site scripting in Cisco UCS Director (medium 6.1)
- [CVE-2017-3817](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-3817/): Missing authorization in Cisco UCS Director (medium 4.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-0238 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-0238 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Cisco UCS Director, published on 19 Apr 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-2018-0238 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco UCS Director. 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-2018-0238/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0238/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-0238
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-0238
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-0238

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0238/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.