Improper Privilege Management in Apache Karaf

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

8.8 · CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

• CVE-2018-11786: 1.90% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 79.74 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

In Apache Karaf prior to 4.2.0 release, if the sshd service in Karaf is left on so an administrator can manage the running instance, any user with rights to the Karaf console can pivot and read/write any file on the file system to which the Karaf process user has access. This can be locked down a bit by using chroot to change the root directory to protect files outside of the Karaf install directory; it can be further locked down by defining a security manager policy that limits file system access to those directories beneath the Karaf home that are necessary for the system to run. However, this still allows anyone with ssh access to the Karaf process to read and write a large number of files as the Karaf process user.

Published by the source

21 Dec 2018, 17:49 UTC

Last modified by the source

9 Jan 2023, 05:03 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:53 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-9448-c9wq-jg9v

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2018-11786

Advisory: Improper Privilege Management in Apache Karaf
IDs: CVE-2018-11786, GHSA-9448-c9wq-jg9v
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2018-11786 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:53 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.8)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: org.apache.karaf:apache-karaf 4.2.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Maven org.apache.karaf:apache-karaf: affected < 4.2.0; fixed in 4.2.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Maven org.apache.karaf:apache-karaf: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on org.apache.karaf:apache-karaf.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-9448-c9wq-jg9v (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-9448-c9wq-jg9v lists affected ranges: Maven org.apache.karaf:apache-karaf >=0 <4.2.0)

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