CVE-2018-7183

Buffer overflow in the decodearr function in ntpq in ntp 4.2.8p6 through 4.2.8p10 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by leveraging an ntpq query and sending a response with a crafted array.

Published: 2018-03-08 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2018-7183 is rated High Risk (78.1/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 32.04%, 97th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +5.75% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. 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-2018-7183

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 2026-04-13 26.29% 32.04% +5.75%
2 2025-12-28 14.14% 26.29% +12.15%
3 2025-12-27 — 14.14% —

Full EPSS history (31 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-7183

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.0 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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: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.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
7.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/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:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-7183

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-7183

vendor priority summary link
debian low CVE-2018-7183 low priority: Debian including 2 source packages (ntp, ntpsec), 6 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 6. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-7183
gentoo normal CVE-2018-7183: 1 GLSA(s) (201805-12), 1 atom(s) (net-misc/ntp); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2018-7183
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-7183
suse medium CVE-2018-7183 severity moderate: SUSE including 22 source package names (ntp, ntp-4.2.8p11-2.12, …), 86 product×package rows across 61 product lines (Image SLES12-SP5-Azure-BYOS, Image SLES12-SP5-Azure-Basic-On-Demand, … (61 product lines)): Fixed 75, Known Not Affected 11. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-7183/
ubuntu medium CVE-2018-7183 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (ntp), 6 status rows across 6 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 6. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-7183

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-7183

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
ntp ntp 4.2.8 cpe:2.3:a:ntp:ntp:4.2.8:p10:*:*:*:*:*:*
ntp ntp 4.2.8 cpe:2.3:a:ntp:ntp:4.2.8:p6:*:*:*:*:*:*
ntp ntp 4.2.8 cpe:2.3:a:ntp:ntp:4.2.8:p7:*:*:*:*:*:*
ntp ntp 4.2.8 cpe:2.3:a:ntp:ntp:4.2.8:p8:*:*:*:*:*:*
ntp ntp 4.2.8 cpe:2.3:a:ntp:ntp:4.2.8:p9:*:*:*:*:*:*
freebsd freebsd 10.3 cpe:2.3:o:freebsd:freebsd:10.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
freebsd freebsd 10.4 cpe:2.3:o:freebsd:freebsd:10.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
freebsd freebsd 11.1 cpe:2.3:o:freebsd:freebsd:11.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 12.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
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:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 18.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
netapp element_software — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:element_software:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-7183

URL Tags
http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Main/NtpBug3414 Vendor Advisory
http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Main/SecurityNotice#February_2018_ntp_4_2_8p11_NTP_S Vendor Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/103351 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://security.FreeBSD.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-18:02.ntp.asc Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201805-12 Third Party Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20180626-0001/ Third Party Advisory
https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-hpesbux03962en_us
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3707-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3707-2/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com//security-alerts/cpujul2021.html
https://www.synology.com/support/security/Synology_SA_18_13 Third Party Advisory
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