CVE-2018-12028
CVE-2018-12028 is a high-severity vulnerability in Phusion Passenger with a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.8. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-732.
Key facts
- Severity: High (CVSS 3.x base score 7.8)
- CVSS v2: 6.8
- EPSS exploit prediction: 1% (55th percentile)
- Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
- Weakness: CWE-732
- Affected product: Phusion Passenger
- Published:
- Last modified:
Description
An Incorrect Access Control vulnerability in SpawningKit in Phusion Passenger 5.3.x before 5.3.2 allows a Passenger-managed malicious application, upon spawning a child process, to report an arbitrary different PID back to Passenger's process manager. If the malicious application then generates an error, it would cause Passenger's process manager to kill said reported arbitrary PID.
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2018-12028?
- An Incorrect Access Control vulnerability in SpawningKit in Phusion Passenger 5.3.x before 5.3.2 allows a Passenger-managed malicious application, upon spawning a child process, to report an arbitrary different PID back to Passenger's process manager. If the malicious application then generates an error, it would cause Passenger's process manager to kill said reported arbitrary PID.
- How severe is CVE-2018-12028?
- CVE-2018-12028 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.8, rated high severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.
- Is CVE-2018-12028 being actively exploited?
- It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 1% (55th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
- What products are affected by CVE-2018-12028?
- CVE-2018-12028 affects Phusion Passenger. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
- How do I fix CVE-2018-12028?
- Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its high severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
- When was CVE-2018-12028 published?
- CVE-2018-12028 was published on 2018-06-17 and last updated on 2026-06-17.
References
Affected products (1)
- cpe:2.3:a:phusion:passenger:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
More vulnerabilities in Phusion Passenger
- CVE-2018-12026 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): During the spawning of a malicious Passenger-managed application, SpawningKit in Phusion Passenger 5.3.x before 5.3.2…
- CVE-2018-12027 — High (CVSS 8.8): An Insecure Permissions vulnerability in SpawningKit in Phusion Passenger 5.3.x before 5.3.2 causes information…
- CVE-2016-10345 — High (CVSS 7.8): In Phusion Passenger before 5.1.0, a known /tmp filename was used during passenger-install-nginx-module execution,…
- CVE-2012-6135 — High (CVSS 7.5): RubyGems passenger 4.0.0 betas 1 and 2 allows remote attackers to delete arbitrary files during the startup process.
- CVE-2018-12029 — High (CVSS 7.0): A race condition in the nginx module in Phusion Passenger 3.x through 5.x before 5.3.2 allows local escalation of…
- CVE-2025-26803 — Medium (CVSS 5.3): The http parser in Phusion Passenger 6.0.21 through 6.0.25 before 6.0.26 allows a denial of service during parsing of a…
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