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Fencer Vulns
medium 5.3

CVE-2018-20685 json

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…

published 2019-01-10 7 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2018-13232

cvss
5.3
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
3.7%
EPSS 3.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 89%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

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.

Patch / fix

  • fujitsu m10-1_firmware xcp2361, xcp3070
  • fujitsu m10-4_firmware xcp2361, xcp3070
  • fujitsu m10-4s_firmware xcp2361, xcp3070
  • fujitsu m12-1_firmware xcp2361, xcp3070
  • fujitsu m12-2_firmware xcp2361, xcp3070
  • fujitsu m12-2s_firmware xcp2361, xcp3070
  • siemens scalance_x204rna_firmware 3.2.7
  • siemens scalance_x204rna_eec_firmware 3.2.7
  • openssh Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 1:7.9p1-5

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2018-20685

  • openssh Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 1:6.6p1-2ubuntu2.12
  • openssh Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 1:7.2p2-4ubuntu2.7
  • openssh Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 1:7.6p1-4ubuntu0.2
  • openssh Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 16.04 LTS 1:7.2p2-4ubuntu2.fips.2.8.1
  • openssh Ubuntu Pro FIPS 16.04 LTS 1:7.2p2-4ubuntu2.fips.2.10.1

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2018-20685

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • openssh RHEL 8 8.0p1-3.el8
  • openssh-cavs RHEL 8 8.0p1-3.el8
  • openssh-ldap RHEL 8 8.0p1-3.el8
  • openssh-keycat RHEL 8 8.0p1-3.el8
  • openssh-server RHEL 8 8.0p1-3.el8
  • openssh-askpass RHEL 8 8.0p1-3.el8
  • openssh-clients RHEL 8 8.0p1-3.el8
  • pam_ssh_agent_auth RHEL 8 0.10.3-7.3.el8

red hat advisories RHSA-2019:3702

  • openssh SLES for SAP 12 SP4, SLES for SAP 12 SP3, SLES for SAP 12 SP2 +8 more 7.2p2-74.35.1
  • openssh-askpass-gnome SLES for SAP 12 SP4, SLES for SAP 12 SP3, SLES for SAP 12 SP2 +8 more 7.2p2-74.35.1
  • openssh SLES for SAP 11 SP4, SLES 11 SP4 6.6p1-36.12.1
  • openssh-askpass-gnome SLES for SAP 11 SP4, SLES 11 SP4 6.6p1-36.12.1
  • openssh SLE Module for Server Applications 15, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 7.6p1-9.13.1
  • openssh-askpass-gnome SLE Module for Desktop Applications 15 7.6p1-9.13.1
  • openssh SLES for SAP 12 SP1, SLES 12-LTSS, SLES 12 SP1-LTSS 6.6p1-54.26.1
  • openssh-askpass-gnome SLES for SAP 12 SP1, SLES 12-LTSS, SLES 12 SP1-LTSS 6.6p1-54.26.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2019:0125-2SUSE-SU-2019:0132-1SUSE-SU-2019:13931-1SUSE-SU-2019:0126-1SUSE-SU-2019:0125-1

  • openssh openSUSE Tumbleweed 8.4p1-7.4
  • openssh openSUSE Leap 15.0 7.6p1-lp150.8.9.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2024:11124-1openSUSE-SU-2019:0091-1

  • openssh Rocky Linux 8 8.0p1-30.el8_10

rocky linux advisories RLSA-2019:3702

  • openssh Alpine 3.24, Alpine 3.23, Alpine 3.22 +13 more 7.9_p1-r3
  • openssh Alpine 3.6 7.5_p1-r4
  • openssh Alpine 3.7 7.5_p1-r10
  • openssh Alpine 3.8 7.7_p1-r4
  • dropbear Alpine 3.12, Alpine 3.11, Alpine 3.10 2019.78-r1
  • dropbear Alpine 3.24, Alpine 3.23, Alpine 3.22 +9 more 2020.79-r0
  • dropbear Alpine 3.9 2018.76-r3

alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2018-20685

Alpine secdb © Alpine Linux, from https://secdb.alpinelinux.org via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • openssh Arch Linux 8.0p1-1

arch linux advisories AVG-951

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2018-20685 updated cvss 5.3

openssh: scp client improper directory name validation

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 openssh Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 openssh, openssh-ldap, openssh-server, openssh-askpass, openssh-clients, pam_ssh_agent_auth
    affected: workaround, no fix planned “Out of support scope”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 openssh, openssh-cavs, openssh-ldap, openssh-keycat, openssh-server, openssh-askpass, +3 more
    affected: workaround, no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) openssh-askpass 8.0p1-3.el8 Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) openssh 8.0p1-3.el8, openssh-cavs 8.0p1-3.el8, openssh-ldap 8.0p1-3.el8, openssh-keycat 8.0p1-3.el8, openssh-server 8.0p1-3.el8, openssh-clients 8.0p1-3.el8, +1 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2019:3702

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

cisa ICSA-22-349-21 updated cvss 5.3

Siemens SCALANCE X-200RNA Switch Devices

  • Siemens SCALANCE X204RNA (HSR) (6GK5204-0BA00-2MB2) <V3.2.7 Siemens SCALANCE X204RNA (PRP) (6GK5204-0BA00-2KB2) <V3.2.7 Siemens SCALANCE X204RNA EEC (HSR) (6GK5204-0BS00-2NA3) <V3.2.7 Siemens SCALANCE X204RNA EEC (PRP) (6GK5204-0BS00-3LA3) <V3.2.7 Siemens SCALANCE X204RNA EEC (PRP/HSR) (6GK5204-0BS00-3PA3) <V3.2.7
    affected: fixed in V3.2.7, mitigation support.industry.siemens.com

Facts from CISA's republication of the vendor's own advisory (CSAF); the linked advisory is the authoritative source. CISA notification · csaf

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
10 mo ago

Exploit prediction

3.68% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 89% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CISA ADP 3.1 5.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
NVD 3.1 5.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
CNA 3.1 5.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
NVD 2.0 2.6 AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N

Classification

Weakness

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.