CVE-2018-16868

Name: CVE-2018-16868
Creator: NVD / NIST
Published: 2018-12-03T14:29:00.333+00:00
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

MEDIUMCVSS 5.6/10EPSS 0.57%

Last modified Jun 17, 2026

CVE-2018-16868 is a medium-severity vulnerability rated 5.6/10 on the CVSS scale. A Bleichenbacher type side-channel based padding oracle attack was found in the way gnutls handles verification of RSA decrypted PKCS#1 v1.5 data. An attacker who is able to run process on the same physical core as the victim process, could use this to extract plaintext or in some cases downgrade any TLS connections to a vulnerable server.. EPSS estimates a 0.57% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

A Bleichenbacher type side-channel based padding oracle attack was found in the way gnutls handles verification of RSA decrypted PKCS#1 v1.5 data. An attacker who is able to run process on the same physical core as the victim process, could use this to extract plaintext or in some cases downgrade any TLS connections to a vulnerable server.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

5.6/10

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

EPSS Probability

0.57%

42.9th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions
Gnu	Gnutls	<= 3.6.4

References

http://cat.eyalro.net/Technical Description, Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-05/msg00017.htmlBroken Link, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-05/msg00068.htmlBroken Link, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106080Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2018-16868Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory
http://cat.eyalro.net/Technical Description, Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-05/msg00017.htmlBroken Link, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-05/msg00068.htmlBroken Link, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106080Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2018-16868Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory

Timeline

Published: Dec 3, 2018
Last Modified: Jun 17, 2026
Status: Modified

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2018-16868?

How severe is CVE-2018-16868?

CVE-2018-16868 has a CVSS score of 5.6/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.57% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2018-16868?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

Are you affected by CVE-2018-16868?

Run a free Strix scan to check your systems for this vulnerability.

Scan your code now

Source: NVD / NIST