CVE-2018-25193
Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2018-25193 is a high-severity Initialization of a Resource with an Insecure Default (CWE-1188) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 8.7 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Default Accounts (T1078.001); ranked at the 26th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to CM-2 (Baseline Configuration) and CM-6 (Configuration Settings) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2018-25193 is a denial of service vulnerability in Mongoose Web Server version 6.9. The flaw enables remote attackers to crash the service by establishing multiple socket connections to the default port and sending malformed data, which exhausts server resources and leads to service unavailability. It is classified under CWE-1188 with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H), highlighting its high impact on availability.
Remote, unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability over the network with low complexity and no user interaction required. By repeatedly creating socket connections and transmitting malformed data, they can overwhelm the server, causing it to crash and deny service to legitimate users.
Advisories detail the issue, including a Vulncheck advisory on the denial of service via socket connections and an Exploit-DB entry (https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45819) demonstrating exploitation. Practitioners should consult these references for additional technical details and mitigation guidance, such as updating to a patched version of Mongoose if available.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2018-21646
Vulnerability Data
Mongoose Web Server 6.9 contains a denial of service vulnerability that allows remote attackers to crash the service by establishing multiple socket connections. Attackers can repeatedly create connections to the default port and send malformed data to exhaust server resources…
more
and cause service unavailability.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 11 hardening rules · 6 OS baselines
V14.3.2V6.3.2V11.3.1V13.2.3
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Baseline configuration directly requires documenting and maintaining secure initial settings instead of insecure defaults.
Configuration settings mandate the most restrictive values be applied at initialization, eliminating reliance on insecure factory defaults.
Least privilege reduces the blast radius of any insecure default permissions that remain after initialization.
Security engineering principles include explicit requirements for secure defaults during resource initialization and design.
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.
Hardened baselines and configuration management directly replace insecure defaults with secure settings.
Secure development practices include designing products with secure defaults rather than insecure ones.
Pre-acquisition integrity checks can reject products known to ship with insecure defaults.
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.
Mandating secure baseline templates and immediate replacement of vendor defaults directly stops systems from being deployed with insecure factory settings that attackers can exploit.
Requiring documented specification, testing, and acceptance of changes ensures that new or modified components are not initialized with insecure default settings that would otherwise be left in production.
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-248823 OL 8 must not have the telnet-server package installed. prevents CWE-1188
RHEL 7 (1 rule)
- V-204627 SNMP community strings on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be changed from the default. prevents CWE-1188
Ubuntu 22.04 (1 rule)
- V-260529 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS must be configured so that remote X connections are disabled, unless to fulfill documented and validated mission requirements. prevents CWE-1188
Ubuntu 24.04 (1 rule)
- V-270708 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS must be configured so that remote X connections are disabled, unless to fulfill documented and validated mission requirements. prevents CWE-1188
Windows Server 2016 (1 rule)
- V-224972 Active Directory Group Policy objects must have proper access control permissions. prevents CWE-1188
Windows Server 2019 (1 rule)
- V-205741 Windows Server 2019 Active Directory Group Policy objects must have proper access control permissions. prevents CWE-1188