# CVE-2018-16098: Privilege escalation in Various ThinkPad products

> An unquoted search path in the Synaptics driver allows low-privilege users to execute unauthorized code on Lenovo ThinkPads.

- **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 Jan 2019
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-5wpm-3w6m-74wv

## What is CVE-2018-16098?

CVE-2018-16098 is a high-severity vulnerability in Lenovo Group Ltd. Various ThinkPad products, published on 24 Jan 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In some Lenovo ThinkPads, an unquoted search path vulnerability was found in various versions of the Synaptics Pointing Device driver which could allow unauthorized code execution as a low privilege user.

Weakness: CWE-428 (Unquoted Search Path or Element)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-16098?

It affects 59 products.


Products: Lenovo Synaptics Thinkpad Ultranav Driver, Lenovo Thiankpad L430 Firmware, Lenovo Thiankpad L530 Firmware, Lenovo Thiankpad P1 Firmware, Lenovo Thiankpad P50s Firmware, Lenovo Thiankpad P51 Firmware, Lenovo Thiankpad P51s Firmware, Lenovo Thiankpad P52s Firmware, Lenovo Thiankpad P70 Firmware, Lenovo Thiankpad S1 Yoga Firmware, Lenovo Thiankpad S430 Firmware, Lenovo Thiankpad T420 Firmware, Lenovo Thiankpad T420i Firmware, Lenovo Thiankpad X1 Extreme Firmware, Lenovo Thinkpad Helix Firmware, Lenovo Thinkpad S230u Firmware, Lenovo Thinkpad T420s Firmware, Lenovo Thinkpad T420si Firmware, Lenovo Thinkpad T430i Firmware, Lenovo Thinkpad T430s Firmware and 39 more.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-16098?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-16098 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-16098 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-16098 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-16098 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-16098 is a high-severity vulnerability in Lenovo Group Ltd. Various ThinkPad products, published on 24 Jan 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-16098 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Lenovo Group Ltd. Various ThinkPad products. 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-2018-16098/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-16098/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-16098
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-16098
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-16098

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-16098/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.