CVE-2018-16947
An issue was discovered in OpenAFS before 1.6.23 and 1.8.x before 1.8.2. The backup tape...
An issue was discovered in OpenAFS before 1.6.23 and 1.8.x before 1.8.2. The backup tape controller (butc) process accepts incoming RPCs but does not require (or allow for) authentication of those RPCs. Handling those RPCs results in operations being performed with administrator credentials, including dumping/restoring volume contents and manipulating the backup database. For example, an unauthenticated attacker can replace any volume's content with arbitrary data.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
9.8
An issue was discovered in OpenAFS before 1.6.23 and 1.8.x before 1.8.2. The backup tape controller (butc) process accepts incoming RPCs but does not require (or allow for) authentication of those RPCs. Handling those RPCs results in operations being performed with administrator credentials, including dumping/restoring volume contents and manipulating the backup database. For example, an unauthenticated attacker can replace any volume's content with arbitrary data.
- Record
CVE-2018-16947- CVSS 3.0
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 7.5 High
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-287
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
An issue was discovered in OpenAFS before 1.6.23 and 1.8.x before 1.8.2. The backup tape controller (butc) process accepts incoming RPCs but does not require (or allow for) authentication of those RPCs. Handling those RPCs results in operations being performed with administrator credentials, including dumping/restoring volume contents and manipulating the backup database. For example, an unauthenticated attacker can replace any volume's content with arbitrary data.
- Record
CVE-2018-16947- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2018-8735 No score
An issue was discovered in OpenAFS before 1.6.23 and 1.8.x before 1.8.2. The backup tape controller (butc) process accepts incoming RPCs but does not require (or allow for) authentication of those RPCs. Handling those RPCs results in operations being performed with administrator credentials, including dumping/restoring volume contents and manipulating the backup database. For example, an unauthenticated attacker can replace any volume's content with arbitrary data.
- Record
EUVD-2018-8735- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-67mr-rvh8-9qx2
9.8
An issue was discovered in OpenAFS before 1.6.23 and 1.8.x before 1.8.2. The backup tape...
An issue was discovered in OpenAFS before 1.6.23 and 1.8.x before 1.8.2. The backup tape controller (butc) process accepts incoming RPCs but does not require (or allow for) authentication of those RPCs. Handling those RPCs results in operations being performed with administrator credentials, including dumping/restoring volume contents and manipulating the backup database. For example, an unauthenticated attacker can replace any volume's content with arbitrary data.
- Record
GHSA-67mr-rvh8-9qx2- CVSS 3.0
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-287
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
9.8
An issue was discovered in OpenAFS before 1.6.23 and 1.8.x before 1.8.2. The backup tape controller (butc) process accepts incoming RPCs but does not require (or allow for) authentication of those RPCs. Handling those RPCs results in operations being performed with administrator credentials, including dumping/restoring volume contents and manipulating the backup database. For example, an unauthenticated attacker can replace any volume's content with arbitrary data.
- Record
CVE-2018-16947- CVSS 3.0
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2018-16947
9.8
An issue was discovered in OpenAFS before 1.6.23 and 1.8.x before 1.8.2. The backup tape controller (butc) process accepts incoming RPCs but does not require (or allow for) authentication of those RPCs. Handling those RPCs results in operations being performed with administrator credentials, including dumping/restoring volume contents and manipulating the backup database. For example, an unauthenticated attacker can replace any volume's content with arbitrary data.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2018-16947- CVSS 3.0
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2018-16947
9.8
An issue was discovered in OpenAFS before 1.6.23 and 1.8.x before 1.8.2. The backup tape controller (butc) process accepts incoming RPCs but does not require (or allow for) authentication of those RPCs. Handling those RPCs results in operations being performed with administrator credentials, including dumping/restoring volume contents and manipulating the backup database. For example, an unauthenticated attacker can replace any volume's content with arbitrary data.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2018-16947- CVSS 3.0
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2019-0021 No score
Updated openafs packages fix security vulnerabilities
Jeffrey Altman reported that the backup tape controller (butc) process does accept incoming RPCs but does not require (or allow for) authentication of those RPCs, allowing an unauthenticated attacker to perform volume operations with administrator credentials (CVE-2018-16947).
Mark Vitale reported that several RPC server routines do not fully initialize output variables, leaking memory contents (from both the stack and the heap) to the remote caller for otherwise-successful RPCs (CVE-2018-16948).
Mark Vitale reported that an unauthenticated attacker can consume large amounts of server memory and network bandwidth via specially crafted requests, resulting in denial of service to legitimate clients (CVE-2018-16949).
- Record
MGASA-2019-0021- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:11113-1 No score
openafs-1.8.8-1.13 on GA media
These are all security issues fixed in the openafs-1.8.8-1.13 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:11113-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
openafsDebian:12 |
before 1.8.2-1 | 1.8.2-1 |
openafsDebian:13 |
before 1.8.2-1 | 1.8.2-1 |
openafsDebian:8 |
before 1.6.9-2+deb8u8, plus listed versions 1.6.9-2+deb8u21.6.9-2+deb8u31.6.9-2+deb8u41.6.9-2+deb8u4~bpo70+11.6.9-2+deb8u51.6.9-2+deb8u61.6.9-2+deb8u7 |
1.6.9-2+deb8u8 |
openafsDebian:9 |
before 1.6.20-2+deb9u2, plus listed versions 1.6.20-21.6.20-2+deb9u1 |
1.6.20-2+deb9u2 |
openafsMageia:6 |
before 1.6.23-1.mga6 | 1.6.23-1.mga6 |
openafsUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.6.14-11.6.15-11.6.15-1ubuntu11.6.15-1ubuntu1.1 |
None known |
openafsUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.6.21-31.6.21-3ubuntu11.6.22-31.8.0~pre4-11.8.0~pre5-11.8.0~pre5-1ubuntu11.8.0~pre5-1ubuntu1.11.8.0~pre5-1ubuntu1.2 |
None known |
openafsopenSUSE:Tumbleweed |
before 1.8.8-1.13 | 1.8.8-1.13 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2018-16947 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) in Openafs, published September 12, 2018. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 2.60%, the 85th percentile. Fixed in openafs 1.8.2-1.
References
openafs.org/pages/security/OPENAFS-SA-2018-001.txt
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/09/msg00024.html
debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4302
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-16947
github.com/advisories/GHSA-67mr-rvh8-9qx2
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-16947
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advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2019-0021.html
bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=23663
openafs.org/pages/security/OPENAFS-SA-2018-002.txt
openafs.org/pages/security/OPENAFS-SA-2018-003.txt
openafs.org/dl/openafs/1.6.23/RELNOTES-1.6.23
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-16947
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-16947
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-16947
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-16948
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-16949