Cyber Resilience

CVE-2018-12465

RCE in Microfocus Secure Messaging Gateway ≤ 471

Public PoCHigh EPSSRCECommand Injection
Published
29 June 2018
Modified
21 November 2024
CVSS Score v3 9.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.79 99.6th percentile
Risk Priority 80 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2018-12465 is a critical-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Microfocus Secure Messaging Gateway. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An OS command injection vulnerability in the web administration component of Micro Focus Secure Messaging Gateway (SMG) allows a remote attacker authenticated as a privileged user to execute arbitrary OS commands on the SMG server. This can be exploited in…

more

conjunction with CVE-2018-12464 to achieve unauthenticated remote code execution. Affects Micro Focus Secure Messaging Gateway versions prior to 471. It does not affect previous versions of the product that used GWAVA product name (i.e. GWAVA 6.5).

CWE(s)
CWE-77CWE-78

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
OS command injection in a web administration interface enables remote code execution on a public-facing application.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.004 Unix Shell Executionconfidence: HIGH
The vulnerability allows direct execution of arbitrary operating system commands via the Unix shell.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalationconfidence: MEDIUM
Command injection as a privileged user can be leveraged to escalate privileges on the SMG server.
attack.mitre.org →
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-24467Same vendor: Microfocus
CVE-2021-22502Same vendor: Microfocus
CVE-2024-3483Same vendor: Microfocus
CVE-2025-5444Shared CWE-77, CWE-78
CVE-2024-48860Shared CWE-77, CWE-78
CVE-2025-2095Shared CWE-77, CWE-78
CVE-2025-7553Shared CWE-77, CWE-78
CVE-2025-2983Shared CWE-77, CWE-78
CVE-2025-5441Shared CWE-77, CWE-78
CVE-2026-15513Shared CWE-77, CWE-78

Affected Assets

microfocus
secure messaging gateway
≤ 471

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.2.3
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V1.2.9

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

SC-27 Platform-independent Applications
addresses: CWE-78

Platform-independent apps typically execute inside a managed runtime or sandbox that restricts direct OS command execution, reducing the ability to exploit OS command injection.

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-78

Validates inputs to block special elements that would alter OS command execution.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and neutralization that prevent command injection.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and data can detect anomalous command execution resulting from injection.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Identifying recorded vulnerabilities enables remediation of command-injection flaws before exploitation.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching/maintenance can remediate known command-injection CVEs in dependencies (partial forward) but does nothing to stop developers from introducing improper neutralization in custom code (none reverse).

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.28 Secure coding mostly match
prevents

Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
detects

Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and command construction practices that directly prevent command injection.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce the attack surface but do not prescribe the specific neutralization techniques needed.

A.8.31 Separation of development, test and production environments none match
none

Environment separation limits the blast radius of an exploited command injection but does not prevent the flaw itself.

References