# CVE-2018-15442: Cisco Webex Meetings Desktop App Update Service Command Injection Vulnerability

> Local attackers can execute arbitrary commands with SYSTEM privileges via the update service, potentially escalating privileges in Active Directory environments.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/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:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 24 Oct 2018
- **Updated:** 26 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-766m-hqm4-2gcf

## What is CVE-2018-15442?

CVE-2018-15442 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco WebEx Event Center, published on 24 Oct 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the update service of Cisco Webex Meetings Desktop App for Windows could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands as a privileged user. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied parameters. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by invoking the update service command with a crafted argument. An exploit could allow the attacker to run arbitrary commands with SYSTEM user privileges. While the CVSS Attack Vector metric denotes the requirement for an attacker to have local access, administrators should be aware that in Active Directory deployments, the vulnerability could be exploited remotely by leveraging the operating system remote management tools.

Weakness: CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-15442?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Cisco Webex Meetings Desktop, Cisco Webex Productivity Tools.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-15442?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-15442 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-15442 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2018-15442 exists.

Public exploit code:

- WebEx Local Service Permissions Exploit (metasploit)
- WebExec Authenticated User Code Execution (metasploit)
- WebExec - (Authenticated) User Code Execution (Metasploit) (exploitdb)
- WebExec - (Authenticated) User Code Execution (Metasploit) (exploitdb)
- WebEx - Local Service Permissions Exploit (Metasploit) (exploitdb)
- WebEx - Local Service Permissions Exploit (Metasploit) (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco WebEx Event Center

- [CVE-2021-1502](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1502/): Cisco Webex Network Recording Player and Webex Player Memory Corruption Vulnerability (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2021-1536](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1536/): Cisco Webex Meetings, Webex Network Recording Player, and Webex Teams DLL Injection Vulnerability (medium 4.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-15442 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-15442 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco WebEx Event Center, published on 24 Oct 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2018-15442 exists.

Affected product: Cisco WebEx Event Center. 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-2018-15442/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-15442/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-15442
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-15442
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-15442

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-15442/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.