What it is
CVE-2019-18988 is a vulnerability affecting TeamViewer Desktop. TeamViewer Desktop through 14.7.1965 allows a bypass of remote-login access control because the same key is used for different customers' installations....
Vulnerability report
Exploited in the wild
Confirmed confidence
In CISA KEV
CVE-2019-18988
TeamViewer Desktop
TeamViewer Desktop
- Severity
- CVSS 7.0 · High
- Confidence
- Confirmed
- Exploit status
- Exploited in the wild
- EPSS
- 4.7%
- First observed
- —
- Last observed
- —
Decision summary
What security teams need to know first
Direct answers before the deeper technical record.
Is it exploited?
Yes. Previdian tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed. Listed in CISA KEV.
Who is affected?
TeamViewer Desktop.
What should we do?
Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.
Overview
TeamViewer Desktop
TeamViewer Desktop through 14.7.1965 allows a bypass of remote-login access control because the same key is used for different customers' installations. It used a shared AES key for all installations since at least as far back as v7.0.43148, and used it for at least OptionsPasswordAES in the current version of the product. If an attacker were to know this key, they could decrypt protect information stored in the registry or configuration files of TeamViewer.
With versions before v9.x , this allowed for attackers to decrypt the Unattended Access password to the system (which allows for remote login to the system as well as headless file browsing). The latest version still uses the same key for OptionPasswordAES but appears to have changed how the Unattended Access password is stored. While in most cases an attacker requires an existing session on a system, if the registry/configuration keys were stored off of the machine (such as in a file share or online), an attacker could then decrypt the required password to login to the system.
- Published
- 07 Feb 2020
- Exploitation Reported
- 03 Nov 2021
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
Tags
cisa
CVE References
- CVE Record CVE.org · CVE Record https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-18988
- community.teamviewer.com/t5/Knowledge-Base/tkb-p/Knowledgebase community.teamviewer.com · CVE Record https://community.teamviewer.com/t5/Knowledge-Base/tkb-p/Knowledgebas...
- whynotsecurity.com/blog/teamviewer whynotsecurity.com · CVE Record https://whynotsecurity.com/blog/teamviewer/
- twitter.com/Blurbdust/status/1224212682594770946 twitter.com · CVE Record https://twitter.com/Blurbdust/status/1224212682594770946?s=20
- community.teamviewer.com/t5/Announcements/Specification-on-CVE-2019-1... community.teamviewer.com · CVE Record https://community.teamviewer.com/t5/Announcements/Specification-on-CV...
Exploitation evidence
Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited
Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.
Exploited in the wild
CISA
A trusted third party reported exploitation.
Known exploited vulnerability sources
Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.
Learn about Pro API access| Source | Added |
|---|---|
| CISA First | 2021-11-03 00:00 UTC |
Detection
Operational artifacts and observed signals
Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.
Observed signals
- Request targets
- User-Agents
- Callback hosts
- 0
- 0
- 0
Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.
Scanner coverage
No scanner integrations recorded yet.
Virtual patch status
No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.
Learn about virtual patches →No detection artifacts or sensor request patterns are available for this CVE yet.
Check back as sensor telemetry and scanner integrations are updated.
Risk and context
Severity, weaknesses, and research context
CVSS v3.1
7.0
High
Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS
4.7%
Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.
Weaknesses
All CVSS Scores
CVSS v3.1
7.0
High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS v2.0
4.4
Medium
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Timeline
From disclosure to observed exploitation
-
00:00 UTC
Added to CISA KEV
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
-
15:09 UTC
CVE published
Vulnerability disclosed publicly
-
00:00 UTC
CVE ID reserved
Identifier reserved by the CNA
Pro API
Automate this intelligence
Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.
- Evidence confidence and provenance
- First-party sensor telemetry
- PoC and scanner references
- Affected versions and enrichment
- Automation-ready JSON delivery
GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2019-18988
Sample API response{
"cve_id": "CVE-2019-18988",
"confidence": "Confirmed",
"cvss_score": 7.0,
"cvss_estimated": false,
"epss_score": 0.04707,
"exploit_status": {
"exploited_in_the_wild": true,
"active_exploitation_observed": false
},
"sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}