CVE-2018-17188

Prior to CouchDB version 2.3.0, CouchDB allowed for runtime-configuration of key components of the database. In some cases, this lead to vulnerabilities where CouchDB admin users could access the underlying operating system as the CouchDB user. Together with other vulnerabilities, it allowed full system entry for unauthenticated users. Rather than waiting for new vulnerabilities to be discovered, and fixing them as they come up, the CouchDB development team decided to make changes to avoid this entire class of vulnerabilities.

Published: 2019-01-02 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2018-17188 is rated Moderate Risk (60.9/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 3.23%). EPSS rose +1.84% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. 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-2018-17188

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 1.38% 3.23% +1.84%
2 2026-01-30 2.83% 1.38% -1.44%
3 2025-12-28 — 2.83% —

Full EPSS history (21 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-17188

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.2 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
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.
 1.2 5.9 [email protected]
6.5 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P 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:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 8.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-17188

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-17188

vendor priority summary link
suse high — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-17188/
ubuntu medium CVE-2018-17188 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (couchdb), 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): DNE 17, needed 1, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-17188

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-17188

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache couchdb < 2.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:apache:couchdb:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-17188

cvelogic Threat Intelligence