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» CVE-2018-10896
The default cloud-init configuration, in cloud-init 0.6.2 and newer, included "ssh_deletekeys: 0", disabling cloud-init's deletion of ssh host keys. In some environments, this could lead to instances created by cloning a golden master or template system, sharing ssh host keys, and being able to impersonate one another or conduct man-in-the-middle attacks.
NVD Status： Modified ，CVE State: published
Threat Intelligence & Risk Assessment for CVE-2018-10896
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2018-10896 is rated Low Risk (38.2/100) : CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.35%).Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.
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-2018-10896
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
2026-06-15
0.08%
0.35%
+0.27%
2
2025-11-21
0.04%
0.08%
+0.04%
3
2025-11-18
—
0.04%
—
Full EPSS history
(13 records total)
Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-10896
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
Base score
Version
Severity
Vector
Exploitability
Impact
Score source
7.1
3.1
HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
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:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
1.8
5.2
[email protected]
4.6
3.0
MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
1.5
2.7
[email protected]
3.6
2.0
LOW
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N
Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
3.9
4.9
[email protected]
Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-10896
OS Trackers for CVE-2018-10896
Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-10896
Vendor
Product
Version
Raw CPE
canonical
cloud-init
>= 0.6.2, < 18.4
cpe:2.3:a:canonical:cloud-init:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
References for CVE-2018-10896
cvelogic
Threat Intelligence