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No exploitation reported

CVE-2018-5389

No exploitation reported by the sources we read.

  • Published2018-09-06
  • WeaknessCWE-521

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

The Internet Key Exchange v1 main mode is vulnerable to offline dictionary or brute force attacks. Reusing a key pair across different versions and modes of IKE could lead to cross-protocol authentication bypasses. It is well known, that the aggressive mode of IKEv1 PSK is vulnerable to offline dictionary or brute force attacks. For the main mode, however, only an online attack against PSK authentication was thought to be feasible. This vulnerability could allow an attacker to recover a weak Pre-Shared Key or enable the impersonation of a victim host or network.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2018-09-0621:29CVE publishedNVD

Versions per branch

NVD
Ietf internet key exchange
BranchAffectedFixed in
1.0= 1.0no fix published

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Distribution builds and vendor advisories

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Packages

  • isakmpdUbuntu:22.04:LTSall versions · no fixed version listedand 2 other packages
  • isakmpdUbuntu:20.04:LTSall versions · no fixed version listedand 2 other packages
  • isakmpdUbuntu:18.04:LTSall versions · no fixed version listedand 2 other packages
  • isakmpdUbuntu:16.04:LTSall versions · no fixed version listedand 1 other package
  • libreswanDebian:13all versions · no fixed version listedand 1 other package
  • libreswanDebian:12all versions · no fixed version listedand 1 other package
  • strongswanUbuntu:Pro:FIPS:20.04:LTSall versions · no fixed version listed
  • strongswanUbuntu:Pro:FIPS:18.04:LTSall versions · no fixed version listed

8 more package ranges on OSV.dev

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2018-5389 Red Hat Product Security10 known affected

    IKEv1: IKEv1 protocol vulnerability in the authentication mode with pre-shared keys in the main mode of operation

    ipsec-tools.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 · openswan.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 · libreswan.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 · +7 more

Full record on NVD

Fix

  1. No fix planned, says the vendor Red Hat Product Security CVE-2018-5389 · 10 productsWill not fix

Detection

Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof of concept
Metasploit modules
none listed
Metasploit Framework

Sources

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Published
2018-09-06
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Modified
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-999m-cq5c-hqgx

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-5389?

The Internet Key Exchange v1 main mode is vulnerable to offline dictionary or brute force attacks. Reusing a key pair across different versions and modes of IKE could lead to cross-protocol authentication bypasses. It is well known, that the aggressive mode of IKEv1 PSK is vulnerable to offline dictionary or brute force attacks. For the main mode, however, only an online attack against PSK authentication was thought to be feasible. This vulnerability could allow an attacker to recover a weak Pre-Shared Key or enable the impersonation of a victim host or network.

Is CVE-2018-5389 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2018-5389 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 3.1% on 2026-11-08, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2018-5389?

CVE-2018-5389 has a CVSS v3 base score of 5.9 (MEDIUM severity), with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.

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Sources for this record