CVE intelligence and bounded remediation
CVE-2018-16055 — Netgate Pfsense security vulnerability
An authenticated command injection vulnerability exists in status_interfaces.php via dhcp_relinquish_lease() in pfSense before 2.4.4 due to its passing user input from the $_POST parameters "ifdescr" and "ipv" to a shell without escaping the contents of the variables. This allows an authenticated WebGUI user with privileges for the affected page to execute commands in the context of the root user when submitting a request to relinquish a DHCP lease for an interface which is configured to obtain its address via DHCP.
- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 9 (2.0)
- Published
- 2018-09-26
- CISA KEV
- Not currently listed
- Ecosystem
- software/application
- Weaknesses
- CWE-78
Affected products
- netgate / pfsense
Matched remediation archetype
Command, code, expression, and template injection
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Check exposure
- Trace untrusted values to process execution, interpreters, evaluators, template engines, dynamic imports, and administrative scripting features.
- Determine whether the affected path is reachable across each trust boundary and which service account or host privilege it inherits.
- Review configuration for optional execution features, unsafe compatibility modes, and shell invocation.
Remediate safely
- Replace string-built commands or evaluated code with fixed operations and structured argument APIs that do not invoke a shell.
- Use strict allowlists for operation identifiers and reject unexpected input before it reaches any interpreter.
- Update the affected component and add inert regression tests covering metacharacters, encoding variants, and alternate request paths.
Authoritative sources
Complete CVE record and remediation plan
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