# CVE-2018-12240: Hardcoded credentials in Norton Identity Safe for Android

> Attackers can recover encrypted data without credentials due to a hard-coded IV, leading to privilege escalation in Norton Identity Safe for Android.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 29 Aug 2018
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4fpj-5v33-6x96

## What is CVE-2018-12240?

CVE-2018-12240 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Symantec Corporation Norton Identity Safe for Android, published on 29 Aug 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Norton Identity Safe product prior to 5.3.0.976 may be susceptible to a privilege escalation issue via a hard coded IV, which is a type of vulnerability that can potentially increase the likelihood of encrypted data being recovered without adequate credentials.

Weakness: CWE-798 (Use of Hard-coded Credentials)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-12240?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Symantec Norton Password Manager.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-12240?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-12240 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-12240 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-12240 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Symantec Corporation Norton Identity Safe for Android

- [CVE-2018-18365](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-18365/): Other in Norton Password Manager (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2018-18362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-18362/): Cross-site scripting in Norton Password Manager (medium 6.1)
- [CVE-2019-12755](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12755/): Information disclosure in Norton Password Manager (medium 5.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-12240 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-12240 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Symantec Corporation Norton Identity Safe for Android, published on 29 Aug 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-12240 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Symantec Corporation Norton Identity Safe for Android. 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-2018-12240/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-12240/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-12240
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-12240
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-12240

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-12240/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.