CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2018-16618 — VTech Storio Max before 56.D3JM6 allows remote command execution via shell metacharacters in an Android activity name

Critical CVSS 9.8

VTech Storio Max before 56.D3JM6 allows remote command execution via shell metacharacters in an Android activity name. It exposes the storeintenttranslate.x service on port 1668 listening for requests on localhost. Requests submitted to this service are checked for a string of random characters followed by the name of an Android activity to start. Activities are started by inserting their name into a string that is executed in a shell command. By inserting metacharacters this can be exploited to run arbitrary commands as root. The requests also match those of the HTTP protocol and can be triggered on any web page rendered on the device by requesting resources stored at an http://127.0.0.1:1668/ URI, as demonstrated by the http://127.0.0.1:1668/dacdb70556479813fab2d92896596eef?';{ping,example.org}' URL.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.0)
Published
2019-06-19
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
operating-system
Weaknesses
CWE-78

Affected products

  • vtech / storio_max_firmware

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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