CVE-2018-12892

CRITICALNVD 9.99.9—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 9.9 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: CRITICAL) published 2022-05-14. NVD baseline CVSS 9.9; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
9.9EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 3%CVSS: 9.9Exploit: None knownExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

An issue was discovered in Xen 4.7 through 4.10.x. libxl fails to pass the readonly flag to qemu when setting up a SCSI disk, due to what was probably an erroneous merge conflict resolution. Malicious guest administrators or (in some situations) users may be able to write to supposedly read-only disk images. Only emulated SCSI disks (specified as "sd" in the libxl disk configuration, or an equivalent) are affected. IDE disks ("hd") are not affected (because attempts to make them readonly are rejected). Additionally, CDROM devices (that is, devices specified to be presented to the guest as CDROMs, regardless of the nature of the backing storage on the host) are not affected; they are always read only. Only systems using qemu-xen (rather than qemu-xen-traditional) as the device model version are vulnerable. Only systems using libxl or libxl-based toolstacks are vulnerable. (This includes xl, and libvirt with the libxl driver.) The vulnerability is present in Xen versions 4.7 and later. (In earlier versions, provided that the patch for XSA-142 has been applied, attempts to create read only disks are rejected.) If the host and guest together usually support PVHVM, the issue is exploitable only if the malicious guest administrator has control of the guest kernel or guest kernel command line.

CVSS v3
9.9
EG Score
9.9(medium)
EG Risk
50(Track)
EG Risk 50/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity99% × 45%
Exploitation3% × 40%
Automatability30% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS PROB
3%
EPSS %ILE
84%
KEV
Not listed

Published

July 2, 2018

Last Modified

November 21, 2024

Advisory Details (6)

Auto-updated Sep 25, 2026
No patch confirmed yet.
generic

XSA-266 - Xen Security Advisories

http://xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-266.html
generic

CVE-2018-12892 - PSIRT.COM

http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/104571
generic

oss-security - Xen Security Advisory 266 (CVE-2018-12892) - libxl fails to honour readonly flag on HVM emulated SCSI disks

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2018/06/27/12
generic

[SECURITY] [DSA 4236-1] xen security update

https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4236
generic

Xen: Multiple vulnerabilities (GLSA 201810-06) — Gentoo security

https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201810-06
generic
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1041203

Affected Packages

(25 across 25 ecosystems)
Alpine:v3.10(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.11.0-r0—
Alpine:v3.11(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.11.0-r0—
Alpine:v3.12(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.11.0-r0—
Alpine:v3.13(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.11.0-r0—
Alpine:v3.14(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.11.0-r0—
Alpine:v3.15(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.11.0-r0—
Alpine:v3.16(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.11.0-r0—
Alpine:v3.17(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.11.0-r0—
Alpine:v3.18(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.11.0-r0—
Alpine:v3.19(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.11.0-r0—
Alpine:v3.20(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.11.0-r0—
Alpine:v3.21(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.11.0-r0—
Alpine:v3.22(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.11.0-r0—
Alpine:v3.23(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.11.0-r0—
Alpine:v3.24(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.11.0-r0—
Alpine:v3.5(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.7.6-r0—
Alpine:v3.6(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.8.4-r0—
Alpine:v3.7(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.9.3-r0—
Alpine:v3.8(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.10.1-r3—
Alpine:v3.9(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.11.0-r0—
Debian:11(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.8.3+xsa267+shim4.10.1+xsa267-1+deb9u9—
Debian:12(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.8.3+xsa267+shim4.10.1+xsa267-1+deb9u9—
Debian:13(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.8.3+xsa267+shim4.10.1+xsa267-1+deb9u9—
Debian:14(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen—4.8.3+xsa267+shim4.10.1+xsa267-1+deb9u9—
Debian:9(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
xen4.8.1-1+deb9u1 ... 4.8.3+xsa267+shim4.10.1+xsa267-1+deb9u8 (10 versions)4.8.3+xsa267+shim4.10.1+xsa267-1+deb9u9—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 6× in last 7d / 27× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 150 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-09-24 13:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-09-23 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-09-21 20:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-09-20 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-09-19 15:36 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-09-18 19:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-09-17 19:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-09-16 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-09-16 05:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-09-15 03:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-09-12 14:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-09-11 14:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-09-10 09:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-09-09 05:47 UTCOSV refresh
  15. 2026-09-07 15:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-09-06 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-09-05 15:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-09-04 13:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-09-04 05:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-09-02 14:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-09-02 14:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-09-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-09-01 03:31 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-08-30 19:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-08-28 21:36 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-08-27 14:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-08-26 14:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-08-25 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-08-23 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-08-22 14:07 UTCOSV refresh
  6. 2026-08-21 23:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-08-20 22:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-08-19 17:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-08-18 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-08-17 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-08-16 14:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-08-16 02:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-08-15 01:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-08-13 21:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-08-12 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-08-11 13:36 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-08-08 16:32 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-08-07 16:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-08-06 18:05 UTCOSV refresh
  20. 2026-08-06 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-08-06 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-08-04 15:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-08-02 02:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-08-01 04:12 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-07-30 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-07-30 01:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-07-28 15:32 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-07-26 14:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-07-26 14:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-07-24 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-07-23 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-07-23 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-07-23 01:33 UTCEG score recompute
  34. 2026-07-22 22:13 UTCEG score recompute
  35. 2026-07-22 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-07-21 15:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  37. 2026-07-21 10:17 UTCOSV refresh
  38. 2026-07-20 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-07-20 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-07-19 14:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-07-16 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  44. 2026-07-16 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  45. 2026-07-15 16:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  46. 2026-07-15 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-07-13 22:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  48. 2026-07-13 06:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  49. 2026-07-12 05:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-07-11 08:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  51. 2026-07-09 19:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  52. 2026-07-08 15:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  53. 2026-07-07 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  54. 2026-07-07 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  55. 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  56. 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  57. 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  58. 2026-07-05 02:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  59. 2026-07-04 06:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  60. 2026-07-04 05:26 UTCOSV refresh
  61. 2026-07-02 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  62. 2026-07-01 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  63. 2026-07-01 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  64. 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  65. 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  66. 2026-06-29 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  67. 2026-06-28 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  68. 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  69. 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  70. 2026-06-27 03:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  71. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  72. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  73. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  74. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  75. 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore

Related CVEs(same product + same CWE)

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2018-12892?
CVE-2018-12892 is a critical vulnerability published on July 2, 2018. An issue was discovered in Xen 4.7 through 4.10.x. libxl fails to pass the readonly flag to qemu when setting up a SCSI disk, due to what was probably an erroneous merge conflict resolution. Malicious guest administrators or (in some situations) users may be able to write to supposedly read-only…
When was CVE-2018-12892 disclosed?
CVE-2018-12892 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on July 2, 2018, with the most recent update on November 21, 2024. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2018-12892 actively exploited?
CVE-2018-12892 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 15.8% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-12892?
CVE-2018-12892 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.9 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2018-12892?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2018-12892, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

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