Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Quest KACE System Management Appliance 8.0.318 had local-only administrative scripts that could be reached by an anonymous POST request when specific request headers were altered. That could let an unauthenticated attacker trigger critical appliance functions without authorization. The public bundle does not provide a CVSS score or confirm active exploitation.
Executive priority
Prioritize this for any exposed Quest KACE SMA 8.0.318 appliance. The issue affects administrative appliance behavior and does not require authentication, but public evidence supplied here does not show active exploitation or a confirmed patch path.
Technical view
CVE-2018-11142 affects systemui/settings_network.php and systemui/settings_patching.php in Quest KACE SMA 8.0.318. The intended localhost-only access control can be bypassed through request header manipulation involving Host and X_Forwarded_For, enabling anonymous execution of critical functions. Source data does not list CWE, CVSS, or fixed versions.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely limited to Quest KACE System Management Appliance 8.0.318 instances, especially appliances whose web interface is reachable from untrusted networks. The bundle does not identify other affected versions or products.
Exploitation context
The CVE description describes an anonymous authorization bypass, but the bundle marks KEV as false and provides no cited evidence of active exploitation. Treat internet-facing or broadly reachable SMA administration interfaces as higher priority.
Researcher notes
The core issue is trust in request headers to enforce localhost-only access. Evidence is thin: no CVSS, CWE, CPE, patch version, or exploit-in-the-wild confirmation is included in the supplied bundle. Avoid extrapolating beyond SMA 8.0.318 without vendor confirmation.
Mitigation direction
- Check Quest/Core Security advisory and vendor guidance for fixed versions or supported mitigations.
- Restrict SMA web interface access to trusted administrative networks or VPN paths.
- Block direct internet exposure of the appliance management interface where possible.
- Review reverse proxy rules that trust client-supplied forwarding headers.
- Prioritize upgrade or remediation for version 8.0.318 if present.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Quest KACE SMA deployments and confirm exact appliance versions.
- Determine whether the SMA web interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
- Review access controls around administrative systemui paths.
- Check web logs for suspicious unauthenticated POST requests to the named scripts.
- Verify vendor remediation status against official Quest guidance.
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.
CVE-2018-11142 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://www.coresecurity.com/advisories/quest-kace-system-management-appliance-multiple-vulnerabilitiesCVE 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.