CVE-2018-12520
CWE-335Published: July 5, 2018· Updated: Jun 17, 2026
Official Description
An issue was discovered in ntopng 3.4 before 3.4.180617. The PRNG involved in the generation of session IDs is not seeded at program startup. This results in deterministic session IDs being allocated for active user sessions. An attacker with foreknowledge of the operating system and standard library in use by the host running the service and the username of the user whose session they're targeting can abuse the deterministic random number generation in order to hijack the user's session, thus escalating their access.
Technical Analysis
CVE-2018-12520 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.
The vulnerability requires no privileges and no user interaction, making it a prime target for automated exploitation campaigns and worm-like propagation.
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 8.1.
A proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit exists for CVE-2018-12520. While not yet confirmed in active campaigns, the availability of PoC code increases exploitation risk substantially.
CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown
Affected Vendors & Products
Exploit & PoC Resources
Official Patches & Advisories
All References (8)
Quick Facts
Related CVEs (CWE-335)
Recommended Actions
- →Apply vendor patches immediately
- →Monitor CVE-2018-12520 in threat intel feeds
- →Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts