CVE-2018-15473

Exp

OpenSSH through 7.7 is prone to a user enumeration vulnerability due to not delaying bailout for an invalid authenticating user until after the packet containing the request has been fully parsed, related to auth2-gss.c, auth2-hostbased.c, and auth2-pubkey.c.

Published: 2018-08-17 Last update: 2025-12-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2018-15473 is rated High Exploit Risk (70/100): CVSS Medium severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 90.36%, 100th percentile). 6 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

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

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2018-15473

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
45939 exploit_db edb 2018-12-04 Exploit-DB ↗
45233 exploit_db edb 2018-08-21 Exploit-DB ↗
45210 exploit_db edb 2018-08-16 Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2018-15473

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 2026-03-04 91.41% 90.36% -1.05%
2 2026-03-01 90.36% 91.41% +1.05%
3 2026-02-07 — 90.36% —

Full EPSS history (55 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-15473

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
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: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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 1.4 [email protected]
5.9 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.2 3.6 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
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:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-15473

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-15473

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2018-15473: 1 source package rows (openssh); 20 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 10, open 10. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2018-15473
debian not yet assigned CVE-2018-15473 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (openssh), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-15473
gentoo low CVE-2018-15473: 1 GLSA(s) (201810-03), 1 atom(s) (net-misc/openssh); latest impact low. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2018-15473
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-15473
suse medium CVE-2018-15473 severity moderate: SUSE including 49 source package names (openssh, openssh-6.2p2-0.41.5.1, …), 153 product×package rows across 44 product lines (Magnum Orchestration 7, SLES for SAP Applications 11 SP3, … (44 product lines)): Fixed 124, Known Not Affected 29. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-15473/
ubuntu low CVE-2018-15473 low priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (openssh, openssh-ssh1), 20 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, cosmic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 12, released 4, DNE 2, ignored 1, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-15473

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-15473

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
openbsd openssh <= 7.7 cpe:2.3:a:openbsd:openssh:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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_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:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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 18.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
netapp cn1610_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:cn1610_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp aff_baseboard_management_controller — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:aff_baseboard_management_controller:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp cloud_backup — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:cloud_backup:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp data_ontap_edge — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:data_ontap_edge:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp fas_baseboard_management_controller — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:fas_baseboard_management_controller:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp oncommand_unified_manager >= 9.4 cpe:2.3:a:netapp:oncommand_unified_manager:*:*:*:*:*:vsphere:*:*
netapp ontap_select_deploy — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:ontap_select_deploy:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp service_processor — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:service_processor:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp steelstore_cloud_integrated_storage — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:steelstore_cloud_integrated_storage:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp virtual_storage_console >= 7.2 cpe:2.3:a:netapp:virtual_storage_console:*:*:*:*:*:vsphere:*:*
netapp clustered_data_ontap — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:clustered_data_ontap:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp data_ontap — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:data_ontap:-:*:*:*:*:7-mode:*:*
netapp vasa_provider >= 7.2 cpe:2.3:a:netapp:vasa_provider:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp storage_replication_adapter >= 7.2 cpe:2.3:a:netapp:storage_replication_adapter:*:*:*:*:*:vsphere:*:*
oracle sun_zfs_storage_appliance_kit 8.8.6 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:sun_zfs_storage_appliance_kit:8.8.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
siemens scalance_x204rna_firmware < 3.2.7 cpe:2.3:o:siemens:scalance_x204rna_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-15473

URL Tags
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2018/08/15/5 Mailing List Patch Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/105140 Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1041487 Broken Link Patch Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:0711 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2143 Third Party Advisory
https://bugs.debian.org/906236 Issue Tracking Mailing List Patch Third Party Advisory
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-412672.pdf Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/openbsd/src/commit/779974d35b4859c07bc3cb8a12c74b43b0a7d1e0 Patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/08/msg00022.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://psirt.global.sonicwall.com/vuln-detail/SNWLID-2018-0011 Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201810-03 Third Party Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20181101-0001/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3809-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4280 Third Party Advisory
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45210/ Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45233/ Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45939/ Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2020.html Patch Third Party Advisory
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