Is CVE-2018-1166 actively exploited?

No active exploitation of CVE-2018-1166 has been confirmed so far. Continue monitoring, as exploit status can change.

Can CVE-2018-1166 be exploited remotely?

No. CVE-2018-1166 requires local access to exploit.

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-1166?

CVE-2018-1166 has a CVSS score of 7.8 (HIGH).

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HIGH

CVE-2018-1166

CWE-416Published: February 21, 2018· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

7.8

CVSS v3.1

Official Description

This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on vulnerable installations of Joyent SmartOS release-20170803-20170803T064301Z. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the SMBIOC_TREE_RELE ioctl. The issue results from the lack of validating the existence of an object prior to performing operations on the object. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code under the context of the host OS. Was ZDI-CAN-4984.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2018-1166 requires local access, meaning attackers must already have a foothold on the target system.

Exploitation requires low privileges, which limits the exposure to scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 7.8.

From a weakness classification perspective (CWE-416): Use-after-free vulnerabilities involve accessing memory after it has been freed, often enabling arbitrary code execution.