# CVE-2018-11769: Privilege escalation in Apache CouchDB

> A CouchDB administrator can escalate privileges to the OS user and execute arbitrary code by bypassing configuration validation restrictions.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 8 Aug 2018
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-33mm-q6vp-mvmv, SUSE-SU-2019:0392-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2018-11769

## What is CVE-2018-11769?

CVE-2018-11769 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apache CouchDB, published on 8 Aug 2018. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

CouchDB administrative users before 2.2.0 can configure the database server via HTTP(S). Due to insufficient validation of administrator-supplied configuration settings via the HTTP API, it is possible for a CouchDB administrator user to escalate their privileges to that of the operating system's user under which CouchDB runs, by bypassing the blacklist of configuration settings that are not allowed to be modified via the HTTP API. This privilege escalation effectively allows a CouchDB admin user to gain arbitrary remote code execution, bypassing CVE-2017-12636 and CVE-2018-8007.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-11769?

It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `couchdb` | SUSE:OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 8 | All versions | 1.7.2-3.6.1 |

Products: Apache Couchdb.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-11769?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2018-11769 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-11769 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Apache CouchDB

- [CVE-2022-24706](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-24706/): Apache CouchDB Insecure Default Initialization of Resource (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-1955](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1955/): Auth bypass in Apache CouchDB (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-12635](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12635/): Privilege escalation in Apache CouchDB (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-14889](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-14889/): Code injection in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2016-8742](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8742/): Privilege escalation in Apache CouchDB (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-11769 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-11769 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apache CouchDB, published on 8 Aug 2018. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-11769 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Apache CouchDB. 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-2018-11769/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-11769/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-11769
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-11769
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-11769

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-11769/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.