CVE-2018-19636 | Local root exploit via inclusion of attacker controlled shell script

Supportutils, before version 3.1-5.7.1, when run with command line argument -A searched the file system for a ndspath binary. If an attacker provides one at an arbitrary location it is executed with root privileges

Published: 2019-03-05 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2018-19636 is rated Low Risk (37.6/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.32%). 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-2018-19636

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 0.04% 0.32% +0.28%
2 2025-03-30 0.08% 0.04% -0.04%
3 2025-03-29 0.08%

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-19636

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.3 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 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: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.
1.3 5.9 [email protected]
7.8 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 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:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.2 2.0 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C 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:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
3.9 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-19636

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-19636

vendor priority summary link
suse high CVE-2018-19636 severity important: SUSE including 5 source package names (hostinfo-1.0.1-19.5.1, supportutils, supportutils-1.20-122.9.1, supportutils-3.0-95.21.1, supportutils-3.0.3-95.27.1), 74 product×package rows across 44 product lines (Image SLES12-SP5-Azure-BYOS, Image SLES12-SP5-Azure-Basic-On-Demand, … (44 product lines)): Fixed 73, Known Not Affected 1. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-19636/

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-19636

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
opensuse supportutils < 3.1-5.7.1 cpe:2.3:a:opensuse:supportutils:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-19636

cvelogic Threat Intelligence