CVE-2018-5243

The Symantec Encryption Management Server (SEMS) product, prior to version 3.4.2 MP1, may be susceptible to a denial of service (DoS) exploit. A DoS attack is a type of attack whereby the perpetrator attempts to make a particular machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a specific host within a network.

Published: 2018-08-20 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2018-5243 is rated Moderate Risk (57.6/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.79%). Core evidence: EPSS rose +1.16% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. 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-2018-5243

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 0.63% 1.79% +1.16%
2 2025-11-17 0.75% 0.63% -0.12%
3 2025-09-07 0.75%

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-5243

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
3.9 3.6 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-5243

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-5243

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
symantec encryption_management_server <= 3.4.2 cpe:2.3:a:symantec:encryption_management_server:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-5243

URL Tags
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/105062 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1041527 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://support.symantec.com/en_US/article.SYMSA1458.html Mitigation Vendor Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence