Cyber Resilience

CVE-2018-6961

RCE in Vmware Nsx Sd-Wan By Velocloud ≤ 3.1.0

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCRCECommand Injection
Published
11 June 2018
Modified
30 October 2025
KEV Added
25 March 2022
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.86 99.7th percentile
Risk Priority 86 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2018-6961 is a high-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Vmware Nsx Sd-Wan By Velocloud. Its CVSS base score is 8.1 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 0.3% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

VMware NSX SD-WAN Edge by VeloCloud versions prior to 3.1.0 contain a command injection vulnerability, tracked as CWE-78, in the product's local web UI component. This component is disabled by default and the issue received a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.1 reflecting network attack vector, high complexity, and no required privileges or user interaction.

An unauthenticated attacker able to reach the web UI over the network could exploit the flaw to execute arbitrary commands on the affected appliance, resulting in full remote code execution with impacts to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Public references, including the VMware VMSA-2018-0011 advisory, reiterate that the component should not be enabled on untrusted networks and note that the service will be removed in future product releases. An exploit for the issue has been published on Exploit-DB.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

VMware NSX SD-WAN Edge by VeloCloud prior to version 3.1.0 contains a command injection vulnerability in the local web UI component. This component is disabled by default and should not be enabled on untrusted networks. VeloCloud by VMware will be…

more

removing this service from the product in future releases. Successful exploitation of this issue could result in remote code execution.

CWE(s)
CWE-78
KEV Date Added
25 March 2022

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2020-4006Same vendor: Vmwareboth on KEV
CVE-2014-6271Same vendor: Vmwareboth on KEV
CVE-2014-7169Same vendor: Vmwareboth on KEV
CVE-2023-39780Shared CWE-78both on KEV
CVE-2021-20035Shared CWE-78both on KEV
CVE-2026-39808Shared CWE-78both on KEV
CVE-2023-49897Shared CWE-78both on KEV
CVE-2024-6047Shared CWE-78both on KEV
CVE-2024-40890Shared CWE-78both on KEV
CVE-2025-48703Shared CWE-78both on KEV

Affected Assets

vmware
nsx sd-wan by velocloud
≤ 3.1.0

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)
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V15.2.5

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

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly require secure coding and input handling that blocks command-injection defects, yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors and verification gaps unaddressed.

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.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing and code review target insecure use of operating-system command interfaces, catching command-injection flaws introduced during development.

References