CVE-2018-20685

Description

In OpenSSH 7.9, scp.c in the scp client allows remote SSH servers to bypass intended access restrictions via the filename of . or an empty filename. The impact is modifying the permissions of the target directory on the client side.

Category

5.3
CVSS
Severity: Medium
CVSS 3.1 •
CVSS 2.0 •
EPSS 3.47% Top 15%
Vendor Advisory debian.org Vendor Advisory ubuntu.com Vendor Advisory gentoo.org Vendor Advisory redhat.com Vendor Advisory gentoo.org
Affected: n/a n/a
Published at:
Updated at:

References

Link Tags
https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4387 third party advisory vendor advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3885-1/ third party advisory vendor advisory
https://github.com/openssh/openssh-portable/commit/6010c0303a422a9c5fa8860c061bf7105eb7f8b2 patch
https://cvsweb.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/src/usr.bin/ssh/scp.c.diff?r1=1.197&r2=1.198&f=h patch
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190215-0001/ third party advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106531 vdb entry broken link
https://sintonen.fi/advisories/scp-client-multiple-vulnerabilities.txt third party advisory patch
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201903-16 third party advisory vendor advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/03/msg00030.html third party advisory mailing list
https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpuapr2019-5072813.html third party advisory patch
https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpuoct2019-5072832.html third party advisory patch
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:3702 third party advisory vendor advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202007-53 third party advisory vendor advisory
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-412672.pdf third party advisory patch

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the severity of CVE-2018-20685?
CVE-2018-20685 has been scored as a medium severity vulnerability.
How to fix CVE-2018-20685?
To fix CVE-2018-20685, make sure you are using an up-to-date version of the affected component(s) by checking the vendor release notes. As for now, there are no other specific guidelines available.
Is CVE-2018-20685 being actively exploited in the wild?
It is possible that CVE-2018-20685 is being exploited or will be exploited in a near future based on public information. According to its EPSS score, there is a ~3% probability that this vulnerability will be exploited by malicious actors in the next 30 days.
This platform uses data from the NIST NVD, MITRE CVE, MITRE CWE, First.org and CISA KEV but is not endorsed or certified by these entities. CVE is a registred trademark of the MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CVE content is MITRE's CVE web site. CWE is a registred trademark of the MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CWE content is MITRE's CWE web site.
© 2025 Under My Watch. All Rights Reserved.