# CVE-2018-15331: Privilege escalation in BIG-IP (AAM)

> The dcdb_convert utility fails to drop group permissions, allowing attackers to leverage attacks against the BIG-IP system.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 20 Dec 2018
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-wxr5-p2xp-m24f

## What is CVE-2018-15331?

CVE-2018-15331 is a high-severity vulnerability in F5 Big-Ip Application Acceleration Manager, published on 20 Dec 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

On BIG-IP AAM 13.0.0 or 12.1.0-12.1.3.7, the dcdb_convert utility used by BIG-IP AAM fails to drop group permissions when executing helper scripts, which could be used to leverage attacks against the BIG-IP system.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-15331?

It affects 1 product.


Products: F5 Big-Ip Application Acceleration Manager.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-15331?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-15331 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-15331 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-15331 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in F5 Big-Ip Application Acceleration Manager

- [CVE-2017-6160](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6160/): Denial of service in BIG-IP AAM, PEM (medium 5.9)
- [CVE-2019-6601](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-6601/): Privilege escalation in BIG-IP (AAM) (medium 5.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-15331 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-15331 is a high-severity vulnerability in F5 Big-Ip Application Acceleration Manager, published on 20 Dec 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-15331 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: F5 Big-Ip Application Acceleration Manager. 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-2018-15331/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-15331/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-15331
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-15331
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-15331

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-15331/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.