CVE-2018-1000156

GNU Patch version 2.7.6 contains an input validation vulnerability when processing patch files, specifically the EDITOR_PROGRAM invocation (using ed) can result in code execution. This attack appear to be exploitable via a patch file processed via the patch utility. This is similar to FreeBSD's CVE-2015-1418 however although they share a common ancestry the code bases have diverged over time.

Published: 2018-04-06 Last update: 2025-04-14 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2018-1000156 is rated High Risk (66.8/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 36.76%, 97th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +1.60% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2018-1000156

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-02-02 35.17% 36.76% +1.60%
2 2025-11-21 36.84% 35.17% -1.67%
3 2025-11-18 — 36.84% —

Full EPSS history (20 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-1000156

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]
6.8 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 8.6 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-1000156

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-1000156

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2018-1000156: 1 source package rows (patch); 41 state rows across 10 repos (3.10-main, 3.11-main, 3.12-main, 3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 26, open 15. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2018-1000156
debian not yet assigned CVE-2018-1000156 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (patch), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-1000156
gentoo normal CVE-2018-1000156: 1 GLSA(s) (201904-17), 1 atom(s) (sys-devel/patch); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2018-1000156
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-1000156
suse medium — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-1000156/
ubuntu medium CVE-2018-1000156 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (patch), 4 status rows across 4 suites (artful, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 3, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-1000156

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-1000156

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
gnu patch 2.7.6 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:patch:2.7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 12.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 14.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 16.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 17.10 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:17.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 6.4 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:6.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 6.5 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:6.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 6.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:6.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.2 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.3 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.4 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:6.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.3 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.4 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.5 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 6.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:6.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 7.2 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 7.3 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 7.4 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-1000156

URL Tags
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154124/GNU-patch-Command-Injection-Directory-Traversal.html
http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2018/04/05/bangpatch/ Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:1199 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:1200 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2091 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2092 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2093 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2094 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2095 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2096 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2097 Third Party Advisory
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=894667#19 Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/04/msg00013.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?53566 Vendor Advisory
https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Aug/29
https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Jul/54
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201904-17 Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3624-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3624-2/ Third Party Advisory
https://web.archive.org/web/20180405231329/https://twitter.com/kurtseifried/status/982028968877436928
https://twitter.com/kurtseifried/status/982028968877436928 Third Party Advisory
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