# CVE-2018-20221: Deserialization in n/a

> An authenticated attacker can achieve remote code execution by sending malicious serialized data to the application, impacting the IIS Application Pool.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 17 Mar 2019
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-2899-wfp7-cq2f

## What is CVE-2018-20221?

CVE-2018-20221 is a high-severity unsafe deserialization vulnerability in n/a, published on 17 Mar 2019. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Secure/SAService.rem in Deltek Ajera Timesheets 9.10.16 and prior are vulnerable to remote code execution via deserialization of untrusted user input from an authenticated user. The executed code will run as the IIS Application Pool that is running the application.

Weakness: CWE-502 (Deserialization of Untrusted Data)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-20221?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Deltek Ajera.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-20221?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-20221 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-20221 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-20221 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- Ajera Timesheets 9.10.16 - Deserialization of Untrusted Data (exploitdb)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-20221 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-20221 is a high-severity unsafe deserialization vulnerability in n/a, published on 17 Mar 2019. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-20221 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-2018-20221/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20221/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-20221
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20221
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-20221

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20221/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.