CVE-2018-5764

The parse_arguments function in options.c in rsyncd in rsync before 3.1.3 does not prevent multiple --protect-args uses, which allows remote attackers to bypass an argument-sanitization protection mechanism.

Published: 2018-01-17 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2018-5764 is rated Moderate Risk (57.5/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 6.38%, 93th percentile). Core evidence: EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. Mandatory action: High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize 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-2018-5764

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 13.13% 6.38% -6.75%
2 2026-06-01 10.07% 13.13% +3.06%
3 2026-04-02 10.07%

Full EPSS history (26 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-5764

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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: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:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.9 3.6 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N 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:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-5764

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-5764

vendor priority summary link
alpine high CVE-2018-5764: 1 source package rows (rsync); 5 state rows across 5 repos (3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 0, open 5. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2018-5764
debian not yet assigned CVE-2018-5764 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (rsync), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-5764
gentoo normal CVE-2018-5764: 1 GLSA(s) (201805-04), 1 atom(s) (net-misc/rsync); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2018-5764
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-5764
suse low CVE-2018-5764 severity low: SUSE including 251 source package names (amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20210304-hvm-ssd-x86_64, amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20220127-hvm-ssd-x86_64, …), 286 product×package rows across 52 product lines (SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, SUSE Enterprise Storage 6, … (52 product lines)): Known Affected 231, Fixed 38, Known Not Affected 17. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-5764/
ubuntu medium CVE-2018-5764 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (rsync), 4 status rows across 4 suites (artful, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 3, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-5764

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-5764

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
samba rsync < 3.1.3 cpe:2.3:a:samba:rsync:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 14.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 16.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 17.10 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:17.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-5764

cvelogic Threat Intelligence