CVE-2018-4301
Published: 08 January 2025
Summary
CVE-2018-4301 is a critical-severity Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120) vulnerability in Apple Smart Card Services. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 30.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-16 (Memory Protection) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2018-4301 is a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability (CWE-120) in the GemaltoKeyHandle.cpp component. It affects Smart Card Services software, with the issue addressed in the SCSSU-201801 update. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8, reflecting its critical severity due to network accessibility, low attack complexity, and no requirements for privileges or user interaction.
An unauthenticated remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability over the network with low complexity and no user interaction. Successful exploitation would allow the attacker to achieve high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution and full system compromise.
The advisory at https://smartcardservices.github.io/security/ documents the fix in SCSSU-201801, recommending affected users apply this update to mitigate the buffer overflow risk.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2018-16087
Vulnerability details
This issue is fixed in SCSSU-201801. A potential stack based buffer overflow existed in GemaltoKeyHandle.cpp.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Stack-based buffer overflow enables unauthenticated remote code execution on a network-accessible service, directly mapping to exploitation of public-facing applications.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly requires timely remediation of the stack buffer overflow flaw in GemaltoKeyHandle.cpp via the SCSSU-201801 patch.
Implements memory protections like ASLR and DEP to block exploitation of stack buffer overflows leading to arbitrary code execution.
Enables vulnerability scanning to identify and prioritize remediation of critical issues like CVE-2018-4301 in Smart Card Services software.