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Known exploited vulnerability

CVE-2019-18988

highCVSS 3.1 7.0In CISA KEVEPSS 4.7%Published · n/a

The short answer

CVE-2019-18988 affects n/a n/a and is rated high (CVSS 7.0). CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-11-03: attackers are using it, so patch it first.

What it is

TeamViewer Desktop through 14.7.1965 allows a bypass of remote-login access control because the same key is used for different customers' installations. It used a shared AES key for all installations since at least as far back as v7.0.43148, and used it for at least OptionsPasswordAES in the current version of the product. If an attacker were to know this key, they could decrypt protect information stored in the registry or configuration files of TeamViewer. With versions before v9.x , this allowed for attackers to decrypt the Unattended Access password to the system (which allows for remote login to the system as well as headless file browsing). The latest version still uses the same key for OptionPasswordAES but appears to have changed how the Unattended Access password is stored. While in most cases an attacker requires an existing session on a system, if the registry/configuration keys were stored off of the machine (such as in a file share or online), an attacker could then decrypt the required password to login to the system.

Weakness: CWE-521.

Severity

7.0 high

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

Exploited (CISA KEV)

Yes, since Nov 3, 2021

Federal due date May 3, 2022

EPSS, next 30 days

4.7%

Higher than 92% of scored CVEs

How it can be exploited

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

What CISA says to do

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Affected products

n/a. NVD's record lists the exact affected versions.

References

Questions

Is CVE-2019-18988 being exploited?

Yes. CISA added CVE-2019-18988 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-11-03, with a federal remediation due date of 2022-05-03.

How do I fix CVE-2019-18988?

CISA's required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

From NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS and OSV.dev, checked . Status on NVD: Analyzed. The description is NVD's text, quoted as published.

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