n/a: Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer
n/a · n/a
7.8HighCVSS 3.0
Recommended action
Within 7 days
High technical severity with public exploit material referenced by a structured source; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
Patch available
Optional official sources
National CERT insights ?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.
Select the national-authority views to include. The exact source language is shown on each matched advisory. Your choice is remembered on this device and encoded in the shareable URL.
Official European source
ENISA European Vulnerability Database
Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.
1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier
EUVD-2018-18600
No EUVD known-exploited evidence
ENISA has published the identifier mapping but no EUVD description has been stored yet.
EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
Not supplied in the stored EUVD record
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionWithin 7 days
High technical severity with public exploit material referenced by a structured source; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
Patch available
01
What, why and how
Sophos SafeGuard Enterprise before 8.00.5, SafeGuard Easy before 7.00.3, and SafeGuard LAN Crypt before 3.95.2 are vulnerable to Local Privilege Escalation via multiple IOCTLs, e.g., 0x8810200B, 0x8810200F, 0x8810201B, 0x8810201F, 0x8810202B, 0x8810202F, 0x8810203F, 0x8810204B, 0x88102003, 0x88102007, 0x88102013, 0x88102017, 0x88102027, 0x88102033, 0x88102037, 0x88102043, and 0x88102047. When some conditions in the user-controlled input buffer are not met, the driver writes an error code (0x2000001A) to a user-controlled address. Also, note that all the aforementioned IOCTLs use transfer type METHOD_NEITHER, which means that the I/O manager does not validate any of the supplied pointers and buffer sizes. So, even though the driver checks for input/output buffer sizes, it doesn't validate if the pointers to those buffers are actually valid. So, we can supply a pointer for the output buffer to a kernel address space address, and the error code will be written there. We can take advantage of this condition to modify the SEP_TOKEN_PRIVILEGES structure of the Token object belonging to the exploit process and grant SE_DEBUG_NAME privilege. This allows the exploit process to interact with higher privileged processes running as SYSTEM and execute code in their security context.
What
Sophos SafeGuard Enterprise before 8.00.5, SafeGuard Easy before 7.00.3, and SafeGuard LAN Crypt before 3.95.2 are vulnerable to Local Privilege Escalation via multiple IOCTLs, e.g., 0x8810200B, 0x8810200F, 0x8810201B, 0x8810201F, 0x8810202B, 0x8810202F, 0x8810203F, 0x8810204B, 0x88102003, 0x88102007, 0x88102013, 0x88102017, 0x88102027, 0x88102033, 0x88102037, 0x88102043, and 0x88102047. When some conditions in the user-controlled input buffer are not met, the driver writes an error code (0x2000001A) to a user-controlled address. Also, note that all the aforementioned IOCTLs use transfer type METHOD_NEITHER, which means that the I/O manager does not validate any of the supplied pointers and buffer sizes. So, even though the driver checks for input/output buffer sizes, it doesn't validate if the pointers to those buffers are actually valid. So, we can supply a pointer for the output buffer to a kernel address space address, and the error code will be written there. We can take advantage of this condition to modify the SEP_TOKEN_PRIVILEGES structure of the Token object belonging to the exploit process and grant SE_DEBUG_NAME privilege. This allows the exploit process to interact with higher privileged processes running as SYSTEM and execute code in their security context.
Why
The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it reads from or writes to a memory location outside the buffer's intended boundary. This may result in read or write operations on unexpected memory locations that could be linked to other variables, data structures, or internal program data.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.
What
Sophos SafeGuard Enterprise before 8.00.5, SafeGuard Easy before 7.00.3, and SafeGuard LAN Crypt before 3.95.2 are vulnerable to Local Privilege Escalation via multiple IOCTLs, e.g., 0x8810200B, 0x8810200F, 0x8810201B, 0x8810201F, 0x8810202B, 0x8810202F, 0x8810203F, 0x8810204B, 0x88102003, 0x88102007, 0x88102013, 0x88102017, 0x88102027, 0x88102033, 0x88102037, 0x88102043, and 0x88102047. When some conditions in the user-controlled input buffer are not met, the driver writes an error code (0x2000001A) to a user-controlled address. Also, note that all the aforementioned IOCTLs use transfer type METHOD_NEITHER, which means that the I/O manager does not validate any of the supplied pointers and buffer sizes. So, even though the driver checks for input/output buffer sizes, it doesn't validate if the pointers to those buffers are actually valid. So, we can supply a pointer for the output buffer to a kernel address space address, and the error code will be written there. We can take advantage of this condition to modify the SEP_TOKEN_PRIVILEGES structure of the Token object belonging to the exploit process and grant SE_DEBUG_NAME privilege. This allows the exploit process to interact with higher privileged processes running as SYSTEM and execute code in their security context.
Why
The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it reads from or writes to a memory location outside the buffer's intended boundary. This may result in read or write operations on unexpected memory locations that could be linked to other variables, data structures, or internal program data.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation ?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No confirmed evidence
No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.
Public PoC / exploit material ?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.Reference recorded
A structured CVE source labels at least one public reference as exploit material. BlackTree has not independently validated that it is safe, reliable or weaponised.
Likely attack path
local access → Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer → execute code or commands in the affected security context
Attack surface
Local
Privileges required
Low: a basic authenticated account is required
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness ?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-119: Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer. The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it reads from or writes to a memory location outside the buffer's intended boundary. This may result in read or write operations on unexpected memory locations that could be linked to other variables, data structures, or internal program data.
CVSS vector ?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.0: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
After compromise, an attacker may use built-in shells, scripting engines, scheduled tasks and native network utilities for discovery, persistence or movement. This is a plausible LoTL path, not evidence that it has occurred for every attack.
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
Status ?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Patch available
Affected
n/a
Fixed
An authoritative update reference is available, but the fixed version is not recorded in the structured CVE fields. Check the linked vendor advisory for the applicable release.
Action
Review the linked authoritative reference and apply the recorded fixed release appropriate to the affected product branch.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 9 Jul 2018 · Last source change 5 Aug 2024, 06:17 UTC · CWE-119 · Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source ?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.FIRST · tracked since 2026-09-01
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2018-18600
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceNIST NVD
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment
Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.
Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
Before
n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
After
n/a · Fixed: An authoritative update reference is available, but the fixed version is not recorded in the structured CVE fields. Check the linked vendor advisory for the applicable release.
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
CVE-2018-6854: n/a: Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer | BlackTree