How severe is CVE-2018-0147?

CVE-2018-0147 has a CVSS score of 9.8/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2018-0147?

Affected package information for CVE-2018-0147 is not yet fully mapped. Check the official advisory links for details.

How do I fix CVE-2018-0147?

No fixed version has been published for CVE-2018-0147 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates, apply mitigations recommended by the vendor, and use O3 Security to track when a fix becomes available in your stack.

Is CVE-2018-0147 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 2 known exploit references for CVE-2018-0147, including 2 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2018-0147?

CVE-2018-0147 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 4.0%, placing it in the 89th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

Is CVE-2018-0147 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2018-0147 (Cisco Secure Access Control System Java Deserialization Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2022-03-25. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2022-04-15. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2018-0147?

CVE-2018-0147 is classified as Improper Input Validation (CWE-20), Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502). These weakness types describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

Which products and versions are affected by CVE-2018-0147?

CVE-2018-0147 affects cisco secure access control system (1 version, e.g. 5.2\(0.3\)). Check the affected-products list on this page against your deployed version to confirm exposure.

When was CVE-2018-0147 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2018-0147 was published on March 8, 2018 and was last updated on January 14, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CISA KEV·Added 2022-03-25 — agencies required to remediate by 2022-04-15

CVE-2018-0147

CRITICAL

A vulnerability in Java deserialization used by Cisco Secure Access Control System (ACS) prior to release 5.8 patch 9 could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary…

Published

Mar 8, 2018

Updated

Jan 14, 2026

Affected

0 pkgs

Patched

None yet

Exploits

2 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

4.0%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk89th percentile0.00%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Description

A vulnerability in Java deserialization used by Cisco Secure Access Control System (ACS) prior to release 5.8 patch 9 could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insecure deserialization of user-supplied content by the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted serialized Java object. An exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the device with root privileges. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvh25988.

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

secure access control systemcisco

1 version

5.2\(0.3\)

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

A vulnerability in Java deserialization used by Cisco Secure Access Cont…

cisa.govAPIMar 2022

A vulnerability in Java deserialization used by Cisco Secure Access Cont…

cisa.govCISAMar 2022

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2018-0147 in your stack?

O3 detects CVE-2018-0147 across dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my stack How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

9.8/10

CVSS v3 base score

Vector breakdown

AV:Attack Vector

Network

AC:Attack Complexity

Low

PR:Privileges Required

None

UI:User Interaction

None

S:Scope

Unchanged

C:Confidentiality

High

I:Integrity

High

A:Availability

High

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE Classification

CWE-20Improper Input Validation CWE-502Deserialization of Untrusted Data

Weaponization

No known public exploit tooling found.

Timeline

Disclosed

Mar 8, 2018

KEV added

Mar 25, 2022

First exploit

Mar 25, 2022

Last updated

Jan 14, 2026

Identifiers

CVE-2018-0147

References

Advisorysecurityfocus.com Advisorysecuritytracker.com Advisorytools.cisco.com Advisorysecurityfocus.com Advisorysecuritytracker.com Advisorytools.cisco.com Webcisa.gov

Data from OSV.dev, enriched by O3 Security. Refreshed hourly.