# CVE-2018-5243: Denial of service in Symantec Encryption Management Server (SEMS)

> Attackers can disrupt services on Symantec Encryption Management Server, causing denial of service for intended users.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 20 Aug 2018
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-w8qw-x88f-f35r

## What is CVE-2018-5243?

CVE-2018-5243 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Symantec Encryption Management Server (SEMS), published on 20 Aug 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Symantec Encryption Management Server (SEMS) product, prior to version 3.4.2 MP1, may be susceptible to a denial of service (DoS) exploit. A DoS attack is a type of attack whereby the perpetrator attempts to make a particular machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a specific host within a network.

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-5243?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Symantec Encryption Management Server.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-5243?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-5243 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-5243 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-5243 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Symantec Encryption Management Server (SEMS)

- [CVE-2015-8151](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8151/): Command injection in n/a (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2014-7288](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-7288/): Command injection in n/a (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2015-8150](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8150/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2015-8148](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8148/): Information disclosure in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2015-8149](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8149/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-5243 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-5243 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Symantec Encryption Management Server (SEMS), published on 20 Aug 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-5243 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Symantec Encryption Management Server (SEMS). 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-2018-5243/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-5243/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-5243
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-5243
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-5243

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-5243/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.