# CVE-2018-9233: Weak cryptography in n/a

> Attackers can crack unsalted SHA-1 password hashes to modify malware settings, requiring an upgrade to secure password storage.

- **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:** 5 Apr 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-q6q9-4v2f-8943

## What is CVE-2018-9233?

CVE-2018-9233 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 5 Apr 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Sophos Endpoint Protection 10.7 uses an unsalted SHA-1 hash for password storage in %PROGRAMDATA%\Sophos\Sophos Anti-Virus\Config\machine.xml, which makes it easier for attackers to determine a cleartext password, and subsequently choose unsafe malware settings, via rainbow tables or other approaches.

Weakness: CWE-916 (Use of Password Hash With Insufficient Computational Effort)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-9233?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Sophos Endpoint Protection.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-9233?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-9233 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-9233 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-9233 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- Sophos Endpoint Protection Control Panel 10.7 - Weak Password Encryption (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2018-4863](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-4863/): Security feature bypass in n/a (medium 5.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-9233 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-9233 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 5 Apr 2018. 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-2018-9233 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-2018-9233/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-9233/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-9233
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-9233
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-9233

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-9233/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.