CVE-2018-16158

Exp

Eaton Power Xpert Meter 4000, 6000, and 8000 devices before 13.4.0.10 have a single SSH private key across different customers' installations and do not properly restrict access to this key, which makes it easier for remote attackers to perform SSH logins (to uid 0) via the PubkeyAuthentication option.

Published: 2018-08-30 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2018-16158 is rated High Exploit Risk (87.9/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 70.01%, 99th percentile). Core evidence: 2 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: 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-2018-16158

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2018-16158

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 2026-03-16 70.81% 70.01% -0.80%
2 2025-11-21 62.92% 70.81% +7.88%
3 2025-11-18 62.92%

Full EPSS history (23 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-16158

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.0 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 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: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.
3.9 5.9 [email protected]
10.0 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C 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:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
10.0 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-16158

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-16158

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
eaton power_xpert_meter_4000_firmware < 13.4.0.10 cpe:2.3:o:eaton:power_xpert_meter_4000_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
eaton power_xpert_meter_6000_firmware < 13.4.0.10 cpe:2.3:o:eaton:power_xpert_meter_6000_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
eaton power_xpert_meter_8000_firmware < 13.4.0.10 cpe:2.3:o:eaton:power_xpert_meter_8000_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-16158

cvelogic Threat Intelligence