CVE-2018-6978

vRealize Operations (7.x before 7.0.0.11287810, 6.7.x before 6.7.0.11286837 and 6.6.x before 6.6.1.11286876) contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability due to improper permissions of support scripts. Admin user of the vROps application with shell access may exploit this issue to elevate the privileges to root on a vROps machine. Note: the admin user (non-sudoer) should not be confused with root of the vROps machine.

Published: 2018-12-18 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2018-6978 is rated Low Risk (35.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.33%). 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-2018-6978

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% 0.33% +0.29%
2 2023-03-07 0.89% 0.04% -0.84%
3 2022-02-04 — 0.89% —

Full EPSS history (4 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-6978

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.7 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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: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.
 0.8 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-2018-6978

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-6978

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
vmware vrealize_operations >= 6.6.0, < 6.6.1.11286876 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vrealize_operations:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vrealize_operations >= 6.7.0, < 6.7.0.11286837 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vrealize_operations:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vrealize_operations >= 7.0.0, < 7.0.0.11287810 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vrealize_operations:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-6978

cvelogic Threat Intelligence