CVE-2018-1000805 — paramiko
HIGHCVE-2018-1000805 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) CWE-863 vulnerability in paramiko. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for paramiko — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Paramiko Authentication Bypass vulnerability
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2018-1000805 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,567 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
paramiko🐍paramiko🐍paramiko🐍paramiko🐍paramikoReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Paramiko version 2.4.1, 2.3.2, 2.2.3, 2.1.5, 2.0.8, 1.18.5, 1.17.6 contains a Incorrect Access Control vulnerability in SSH server that can result in RCE. This attack appear to be exploitable via network connectivity.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | paramiko | ≥ 2.4.0&&< 2.4.2 | 2.4.2pip install --upgrade 'paramiko==2.4.2' |
| 🐍PyPI | paramiko | ≥ 2.3.0&&< 2.3.3 | 2.3.3pip install --upgrade 'paramiko==2.3.3' |
| 🐍PyPI | paramiko | ≥ 2.2.0&&< 2.2.4 | 2.2.4pip install --upgrade 'paramiko==2.2.4' |
| 🐍PyPI | paramiko | ≥ 2.1.0&&< 2.1.6 | 2.1.6pip install --upgrade 'paramiko==2.1.6' |
| 🐍PyPI | paramiko | ≥ 1.5.1&&< 2.0.9 | 2.0.9pip install --upgrade 'paramiko==2.0.9' |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for paramiko, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update paramiko to 2.4.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2018-1000805 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2018-1000805 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2018-1000805. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
This flaw is a user authentication bypass in the SSH Server functionality of paramiko (normally used by subclassing `paramiko.ServerInterface`). Where paramiko is used only for its client-side functionality (e.g. `paramiko.SSHClient`), the vulnerability is not exposed and thus cannot be exploited. The following Red…
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | python-paramiko-0:1.7.5-5.el6_10 | RHSA-2018:3406 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | python-paramiko-0:2.1.1-9.el7 | RHSA-2018:3347 |
| Red Hat Virtualization 4 for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | rhvm-appliance-0:4.2-20181026.1.el7 | RHBA-2018:3497 |
| Red Hat Virtualization 4 for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | imgbased-0:1.0.29-1.el7ev | RHSA-2018:3470 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2018-1000805 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2018-1000805 across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.