Is CVE-2018-12550 actively exploited?

No active exploitation of CVE-2018-12550 has been confirmed so far. Continue monitoring, as exploit status can change.

Can CVE-2018-12550 be exploited remotely?

Yes. CVE-2018-12550 is exploitable remotely over the network (CVSS attack vector: Network).

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-12550?

CVE-2018-12550 has a CVSS score of 8.1 (HIGH).

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HIGH

CVE-2018-12550

CWE-440Published: March 27, 2019· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

8.1

CVSS v3.1

Official Description

When Eclipse Mosquitto version 1.0 to 1.5.5 (inclusive) is configured to use an ACL file, and that ACL file is empty, or contains only comments or blank lines, then Mosquitto will treat this as though no ACL file has been defined and use a default allow policy. The new behaviour is to have an empty ACL file mean that all access is denied, which is not a useful configuration but is not unexpected.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2018-12550 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.