CVE-2018-5731

Exp

An issue was discovered in Heimdal PRO 2.2.190. As part of the scanning feature, a process called md.hs writes an executable called CS1.tmp to C:\windows\TEMP. Afterwards the executable is run. It is possible for an attacker to create the file first, let md.hs overwrite it, and then rewrite the file in the window between md.hs closing the file and executing it. This can be exploited via opportunistic locks and a high priority thread. The vulnerability is triggered when a scan starts. NOTE: any affected Heimdal products are completely unrelated to the Heimdal vendor of a Kerberos 5 product on the h5l.org web site.

Published: 2018-03-22 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2018-5731 is rated Exploit Available (55/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.42%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). 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-2018-5731

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2018-5731

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% 0.42% +0.31%
2 2025-06-12 0.05% 0.11% +0.06%
3 2024-12-17 — 0.05% —

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-5731

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.0 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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.
 1.0 5.9 [email protected]
4.4 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
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:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 3.4 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-5731

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-5731

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
heimdalsecurity heimdal 2.2.190 cpe:2.3:a:heimdalsecurity:heimdal:2.2.190:*:*:*:pro:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-5731

URL Tags
https://improsec.com/blog/heimdal-advisory-2 Exploit Third Party Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence