Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw affects Nmap users who run the NSE http-fetch script against a malicious website. The website can influence saved paths and cause files to be overwritten with the permissions of the person running Nmap. It is not described as a remotely exposed server flaw.
Executive priority
Treat as a targeted tooling risk for security and operations teams, not a broad internet-facing emergency. Prioritize upgrading shared scanning hosts and analyst workstations that use Nmap automation against unknown sites.
Technical view
CVE-2018-1000161 is a directory traversal issue in Nmap's NSE http-fetch script affecting 6.49BETA6 through 7.60, including SVN revision 37147. Exploitation requires the victim to run http-fetch against a malicious website. The CVE states it was fixed in 7.7.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to systems where affected Nmap versions are used with the http-fetch NSE script, especially against untrusted web targets. Servers are not automatically vulnerable merely because they are scanned by Nmap.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show active exploitation or KEV listing. The described scenario is a malicious website exploiting an analyst or operator who runs the vulnerable NSE script against it, resulting in file overwrite as that local user.
Researcher notes
The source bundle lacks CVSS, CWE, CPE, and detailed patch metadata beyond the fixed version statement. Validation should focus on version range, http-fetch usage, and whether scanners process untrusted web targets under privileged accounts.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Nmap to version 7.7 or a later fixed release.
- Avoid running http-fetch against untrusted websites until upgraded.
- Run scanning tools with least necessary local privileges.
- Check distribution or vendor package notes for backported fixes.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Nmap versions on analyst, admin, and scanning hosts.
- Identify use of the NSE http-fetch script in scan workflows.
- Confirm affected versions 6.49BETA6 through 7.60 are removed or patched.
- Review scanner execution accounts for unnecessary write privileges.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
File access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references file access or upload behavior, so file telemetry and web shell review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2018-1000161 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://nmap.org/changelog.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.