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Atomicorp WAF Research Note: CVE-2018-5405
KACE System Management Appliance (SMA) < 9.0.270 - Multiple Vulnerabilities
CVE Details
- Already protected by existing Atomicorp WAF rules
- Protection status: Understanding Atomicorp WAF Protection Status
- CVE: CVE-2018-5405
- Name: KACE System Management Appliance (SMA) < 9.0.270 - Multiple Vulnerabilities
- Severity: Medium
- CVSS: 5.4 (v3.0) (Medium)
- CVSS version: 3.0
- CVSS source: N/A
- CVSS vector:
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N- Attack vector: Network
- Attack complexity: Low
- Privileges required: Low
- User interaction: Required
- Scope: Changed
- Confidentiality impact: Low
- Integrity impact: Low
- Availability impact: None
- CWE: CWE-79 — Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation (‘Cross-site Scripting’)
- Related CAPEC attack patterns (via MITRE CWE relationships): CAPEC-209 (opens in a new tab) , CAPEC-588 (opens in a new tab) , CAPEC-591 (opens in a new tab) , CAPEC-592 (opens in a new tab) , CAPEC-63 (opens in a new tab) , CAPEC-85 (opens in a new tab)
- Vendor: quest
- Vulnerable product: kace systems management appliance firmware
- CVE published: 2019-06-03
- CVE last modified: 2026-06-17
- Affected versions (NVD configurations):
- kace systems management appliance firmware: < 9.0.270
- EPSS: 0.0368; 89.0th percentile (FIRST (opens in a new tab) )
- Latest Update: 2026-09-07
- Selected Rule IDs observed: 390727 , 392301 , 392648
- Matching rules: 3; rules with blocking actions: 3
- Would-block Rule IDs: 390727 , 392301 , 392648
- Request surfaces inspected: JSON request data, Request arguments, Request headers, SOAP request data
Technical CPE data
This section lists vulnerable CPE matches retained from the NVD configurations. It supplements the readable affected-product information above.
cpe:2.3:o:quest:kace_systems_management_appliance_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*- Version end (exclusive):
9.0.270 - NVD match criteria ID:
24B925CF-12DB-4729-8FD9-5CA8872B6679
- Version end (exclusive):
Vulnerability Description
The Quest Kace K1000 Appliance, versions prior to 9.0.270, allows an authenticated least privileged user with ‘User Console Only’ rights to potentially inject arbitrary JavaScript code on the tickets page. Script execution could allow a malicious user of the system to steal session cookies of other users including Administrator and take over their session. This can further be exploited to launch other attacks. The software also does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users. The software does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other user. An authenticated user with ‘user console only’ rights may inject arbitrary JavaScript, which could result in an attacker taking over a session of others, including an Administrator.
Recommended Actions
Maintain the observed Atomicorp protections. Keep your Atomicorp commercial rules current and confirm that the selected observed rules (390727 , 392301 , 392648 ) have not been locally disabled. Atomicorp commercial rules are enabled by default. If you use Atomic WAF, review the applicable policy and rule settings.
Apply the vendor’s remediation. WAF protection is defense in depth and does not replace upgrading or following the affected vendor’s guidance.
- Affected versions: Quest Kace K1000 Appliance versions earlier than 9.0.270.
- No specific CNA/vendor solution or workaround is included in the current CVE Record (opens in a new tab) . Review the vendor’s security advisories and supported-release guidance before making changes.
Validate after changes. Confirm rule updates are current, review WAF events for the affected application, and test application behavior after vendor upgrades, mitigations, or local policy changes.
Research Notes
Atomicorp WAF protections are designed around attack techniques and exploit behaviors, allowing existing protections to apply across multiple vulnerabilities without requiring a unique rule for every CVE.
Public Vulnerability References
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- CVE Record (opens in a new tab)
- Exploit or technical research: http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/153150/Dell-KACE-System-Management-Appliance-SMA-XSS-SQL-Injection.html (opens in a new tab)
- Vendor advisory: https://support.quest.com/kb/288310/cert-coordination-center-report-update (opens in a new tab)
- Exploit or technical research: https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/877837/ (opens in a new tab)
Test or Research Source
- Source: Exploit-DB 46956 (opens in a new tab)
- Tags: CVE-2018-5404, CVE-2018-5405, CVE-2018-5406, cve, exploitdb, http, replay
Research Note Context
This research note documents exploit-technique analysis associated with this vulnerability and references Atomicorp WAF protections observed during engineering review, testing, or validation activities.
Atomicorp security controls are generally designed to identify and mitigate attack techniques and exploit behaviors rather than individual CVE identifiers. As a result, protections developed for one vulnerability may also apply to related attack variants and future vulnerabilities using similar techniques.
Learn More
Atomicorp develops commercially supported security technologies for web applications, servers, endpoints, workloads, and legacy enterprise platforms.
Organizations interested in protecting systems against exploit techniques associated with vulnerabilities such as this one can learn more about:
- Atomic ModSecurity Rules: commercially maintained WAF rules for ModSecurity deployments, including protections for web attacks, bots, scanners, malware, exploitation attempts, and emerging vulnerability classes.
- Atomic WAF: an enterprise web application firewall with Atomicorp rules, centralized management, reporting, authentication controls, and operational tooling.
- Atomic ModSecurity Integrator: a special licensing option for MSPs, MSSPs, OEMs, VARs, reverse proxy providers, and other integrators who want to incorporate Atomicorp ModSecurity rule technology into their own products or services.
- Atomic OSSEC: an enterprise OSSEC-based intrusion detection, compliance, and security monitoring platform.
- Atomic Protector: workload protection for Linux, web, cloud, data center, and hybrid environments.
For additional information, product evaluations, or technical discussions, visit https://www.atomicorp.com/ or https://modsecurity.io/ (opens in a new tab) .