CVE-2018-16758

Missing message authentication in the meta-protocol in Tinc VPN version 1.0.34 and earlier allows a man-in-the-middle attack to disable the encryption of VPN packets.

Published: 2018-10-10 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2018-16758 is rated Moderate Risk (44.2/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.95%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule 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-2018-16758

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 0.11% 0.95% +0.84%
2 2026-05-27 0.16% 0.11% -0.05%
3 2025-11-21 0.16%

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-16758

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
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 [email protected]
4.3 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/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: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:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
8.6 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-16758

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-16758

vendor priority summary link
alpine medium CVE-2018-16758: 1 source package rows (tinc); 10 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 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2018-16758
debian not yet assigned CVE-2018-16758 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (tinc), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-16758
ubuntu medium CVE-2018-16758 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (tinc), 19 status rows across 19 suites (bionic, cosmic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 14, needed 2, DNE 1, ignored 1, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-16758

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-16758

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
tinc-vpn tinc <= 1.0.34 cpe:2.3:a:tinc-vpn:tinc:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
starwindsoftware starwind_virtual_san v8 cpe:2.3:a:starwindsoftware:starwind_virtual_san:v8:build12533:*:*:*:vsphere:*:*
starwindsoftware starwind_virtual_san v8 cpe:2.3:a:starwindsoftware:starwind_virtual_san:v8:build12658:*:*:*:vsphere:*:*

References for CVE-2018-16758

cvelogic Threat Intelligence