HIGH CISA KEV

CVE-2019-18988

CVSS v3

7

HIGH

EPSS Score

8.8%

exploit probability

CISA KEV

Yes

known exploited

Exploitation

SSVC status

Description

TeamViewer Desktop through 14.7.1965 allows a bypass of remote-login access control because the same key is used for different customers' installations. It used a shared AES key for all installations since at least as far back as v7.0.43148, and used it for at least OptionsPasswordAES in the current version of the product. If an attacker were to know this key, they could decrypt protect information stored in the registry or configuration files of TeamViewer. With versions before v9.x , this allowed for attackers to decrypt the Unattended Access password to the system (which allows for remote login to the system as well as headless file browsing). The latest version still uses the same key for OptionPasswordAES but appears to have changed how the Unattended Access password is stored. While in most cases an attacker requires an existing session on a system, if the registry/configuration keys were stored off of the machine (such as in a file share or online), an attacker could then decrypt the required password to login to the system.

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Date Added
11/3/2021
Patch Due Date
5/3/2022
Ransomware Use
Unknown

Technical details

Published
2/7/2020

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-18988?

TeamViewer Desktop through 14.7.1965 allows a bypass of remote-login access control because the same key is used for different customers' installations. It used a shared AES key for all installations since at least as far back as v7.0.43148, and used it for at least OptionsPasswordAES in the current version of the product. If an attacker were to know this key, they could decrypt protect information stored in the registry or configuration files of TeamViewer. With versions before v9.x , this allowed for attackers to decrypt the Unattended Access password to the system (which allows for remote login to the system as well as headless file browsing). The latest version still uses the same key for OptionPasswordAES but appears to have changed how the Unattended Access password is stored. While in most cases an attacker requires an existing session on a system, if the registry/configuration keys were stored off of the machine (such as in a file share or online), an attacker could then decrypt the required password to login to the system.

Is CVE-2019-18988 actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2019-18988 is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, meaning it has been confirmed as actively exploited in the wild. CISA requires federal agencies to patch by 5/3/2022.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2019-18988?

CVE-2019-18988 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7 (HIGH severity).

Is CVE-2019-18988 affecting your environment?

Use isMalicious to check if any of your IPs or domains are associated with this vulnerability's IOCs.