CVE-2018-19518 — php-src
HIGHCVE-2018-19518 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-88 vulnerability. 10 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2018-19518 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). In the shaded patch-first corner (EPSS 50%+, CVSS 7.0+).
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 394,415 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the ≥ 90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Description
University of Washington IMAP Toolkit 2007f on UNIX, as used in imap_open() in PHP and other products, launches an rsh command (by means of the imap_rimap function in c-client/imap4r1.c and the tcp_aopen function in osdep/unix/tcp_unix.c) without preventing argument injection, which might allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands if the IMAP server name is untrusted input (e.g., entered by a user of a web application) and if rsh has been replaced by a program with different argument semantics. For example, if rsh is a link to ssh (as seen on Debian and Ubuntu systems), then the attack can use an IMAP server name containing a "-oProxyCommand" argument.
Affected Products
ubuntu linuxcanonicaldebian linuxdebianphpphpuw-imapuw-imap_projectResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
PHP imap_open - Remote Code Execution (Metasploit)
by Metasploit · Nov 29, 2018
Detection & mitigation playbook
VulnerabilityDetect
Identify every host running the affected component and compare the installed build against the fixed version below — for source-built or distro-packaged software the version string, not a lockfile, is the source of truth (`dpkg -l`, `rpm -q`, or the binary's own `--version`).
Remediation status
No fixed release is recorded for CVE-2018-19518 yet. Track the upstream advisory, and apply the exposure-reduction steps below in the meantime.
Mitigate without a patch
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2018-19518 in your dependencies?
Find it across , including transitive dependencies.