# CVE-2018-17980: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Attackers can execute arbitrary code and gain privileges by placing a malicious DLL in the same directory as a NoMachine session file.

- **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:** 15 Oct 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-pvq8-5g9r-pf72

## What is CVE-2018-17980?

CVE-2018-17980 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Oct 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

NoMachine before 5.3.27 and 6.x before 6.3.6 allows attackers to gain privileges via a Trojan horse wintab32.dll file located in the same directory as a .nxs file, as demonstrated by a scenario where the .nxs file and the DLL are in the current working directory, and the Trojan horse code is executed. (The directory could, in general, be on a local filesystem or a network share.).

Weakness: CWE-426 (Untrusted Search Path)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-17980?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Nomachine Nomachine.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-17980?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-17980 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-17980 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-17980 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- NoMachine < 5.3.27 - Remote Code Execution (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2018-0664](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0664/): Other in NoMachine App for Android (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-39107](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-39107/): Path traversal in n/a (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2017-12763](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12763/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2026-5054](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-5054/): NoMachine External Control of File Path Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2026-5055](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-5055/): NoMachine Uncontrolled Search Path Element Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-17980 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-17980 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Oct 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-2018-17980 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2018-17980/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17980/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-17980
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-17980
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-17980

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17980/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.