Raw vector
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2018-17246 is a critical-severity External Control of File Name or Path (CWE-73) vulnerability in Elastic Kibana. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Supply Chain Compromise (T1195); ranked in the top 0.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2018-9005
Vulnerability Data
Kibana versions before 6.4.3 and 5.6.13 contain an arbitrary file inclusion flaw in the Console plugin. An attacker with access to the Kibana Console API could send a request that will attempt to execute javascript code. This could possibly lead…
more
to an attacker executing arbitrary commands with permissions of the Kibana process on the host system.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 6 hardening rules · 6 OS baselines
V14.2.3V5.3.2V3.5.6V9.1.3
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.
Limiting P2P file sharing technology reduces inclusion of functionality or resources from untrusted external control spheres.
Enforcing installation policies prevents users from including functionality obtained from untrusted control spheres.
The inventory process requires identifying and recording the origin of all components, making inclusion of functionality from untrusted control spheres easier to detect during reviews.
Requiring approval and monitoring of maintenance tools prevents inclusion and execution of functionality obtained from untrusted sources.
Unowned portable devices represent untrusted control spheres; the prohibition prevents inclusion of functionality or data from such sources.
Strategy mandates assessment of third-party components and suppliers, directly reducing inclusion of functionality from untrusted control spheres.
Procedures can mandate supply-chain vetting and restrictions on functionality obtained from untrusted third-party or external control spheres.
Requires use of trusted sources and provenance tracking, tangibly limiting inclusion of functionality from untrusted control spheres.
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.
Pre-acquisition integrity/authenticity checks directly prevent inclusion of untrusted code.
Secure SDLC practices include input validation and path sanitization that eliminate this weakness.
Supply-chain program directly governs inclusion of third-party executable code.
Contractual requirements can mandate trusted sources and integrity checks for included functionality.
Supplier risk assessment explicitly covers risks from their products and libraries.
Critical-supplier assessment reduces risk of importing executable functionality from untrusted parties.
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.
By requiring suppliers to propagate security requirements and to disclose component provenance, the control limits the inclusion of functionality obtained from untrusted third-party sources without oversight.
Security testing can detect path-traversal issues but does not itself implement preventive controls.
Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and path-handling controls that directly prevent external file/path manipulation.
Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against untrusted input influencing file operations.
Secure architecture principles discourage unsafe path construction but do not prescribe concrete file-name controls.
Secure coding standards require canonicalization, allow-listing, and bounds checks on file paths, directly eliminating CWE-73.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
- V-248635 Executable search paths within the initialization files of all local interactive OL 8 users must only contain paths that resolve to the system default or the user's home directory. prevents CWE-829
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
- V-271847 OL 9 must be configured so that executable search paths within the initialization files of all local interactive users must only contain paths that resolve to the system default or the users home directory. prevents CWE-829
RHEL 7 (1 rule)
- V-204477 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that all local interactive user initialization files executable search paths contain only paths that resolve to the users home directory. prevents CWE-829
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
- V-230317 Executable search paths within the initialization files of all local interactive RHEL 8 users must only contain paths that resolve to the system default or the users home directory. prevents CWE-829
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
- V-258050 Executable search paths within the initialization files of all local interactive RHEL 9 users must only contain paths that resolve to the system default or the users home directory. prevents CWE-829
Windows 10 (1 rule)
- V-220737 Administrative accounts must not be used with applications that access the Internet, such as web browsers, or with potential Internet sources, such as email. prevents CWE-829