CVE-2018-10900
Network Manager VPNC plugin (aka networkmanager-vpnc) before version 1.2.6 is vulnerable to a privilege escalation attack.
Does this matter?
A public exploit is published in Exploit-DB (verified) and the impact is high, while EPSS rates exploitation at 3.9%. Anyone can run this; patch or mitigate before the next change window and check exposed instances for signs of use.
Description
Network Manager VPNC plugin (aka networkmanager-vpnc) before version 1.2.6 is vulnerable to a privilege escalation attack. A new line character can be used to inject a Password helper parameter into the configuration data passed to VPNC, allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root.
- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 3.92% probability · 90th percentile
- Public exploits
- 1 in Exploit-DB · verified · first 31 August 2018
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-78
- Affected
- gnome/network manager vpnc · debian/debian linux
- Source
- secalert@redhat.com
EPSS moved from 3.9% on 24 September 2026 to 3.9% on 27 October 2026.
Public exploits (1)
Entries in Exploit-DB that cite this CVE. Links go to the Exploit-DB page and to the file in the public repository; nothing is hosted here. A verified tick means the Exploit-DB team confirmed the exploit works against the stated version.
References
- https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1101147Exploit, Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2018-10900Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://download.gnome.org/sources/NetworkManager-vpnc/1.2/NetworkManager-vpnc-1.2.6.newsThird Party Advisory, Vendor Advisory
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/NetworkManager-vpnc/commit/07ac18a32b4Patch, Third Party Advisory, Vendor Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/07/msg00048.htmlThird Party Advisory
- https://pulsesecurity.co.nz/advisories/NM-VPNC-PrivescExploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201808-03Third Party Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4253Third Party Advisory
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45313/Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1101147Exploit, Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2018-10900Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://download.gnome.org/sources/NetworkManager-vpnc/1.2/NetworkManager-vpnc-1.2.6.newsThird Party Advisory, Vendor Advisory
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/NetworkManager-vpnc/commit/07ac18a32b4Patch, Third Party Advisory, Vendor Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/07/msg00048.htmlThird Party Advisory
- https://pulsesecurity.co.nz/advisories/NM-VPNC-PrivescExploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201808-03Third Party Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4253Third Party Advisory
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45313/Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.