CVE-2018-19518
HIGHEPSS 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.
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OS commands if the IMAP server name is untrusted input (e.g., entered by a user of a web application) and if rsh has been replaced by a program with different argument semantics.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.
Research 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
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for the affected component. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Remediation status
No patched version of the affected component has shipped for CVE-2018-19518 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
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.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2018-19518 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2018-19518. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2018-19518 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2018-19518 across dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.