# CVE-2018-9859: Privilege escalation in n/a

> An attacker can achieve persistent privilege escalation by exploiting an unquoted service path in the NAVER Whale update service.

- **Severity:** High 8.1 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 15 Jun 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-f3cv-m522-fjxc

## What is CVE-2018-9859?

CVE-2018-9859 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Jun 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The path of Whale update service was unquoted in NAVER Whale before 1.0.40.7. This vulnerability can be used for persistent privilege escalation if it's available to create an executable file with System privilege by other vulnerable applications.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-9859?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Navercorp Whale.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-9859?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-9859 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-9859 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-9859 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2025-62583](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-62583/): Security feature bypass in NAVER Whale browser (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-53599](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-53599/): Cross-site scripting in NAVER Whale browser (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-24074](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-24074/): Missing authorization in NAVER Whale browser (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-69234](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-69234/): Security feature bypass in NAVER Whale browser (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2018-12449](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-12449/): Other in Whale Browser Installer (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-9859 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-9859 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Jun 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-2018-9859 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-2018-9859/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-9859/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-9859
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-9859
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-9859

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-9859/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.