CVE-2018-18509
MEDIUMEPSS 75th pctlDescription
A flaw during verification of certain S/MIME signatures causes emails to be shown in Thunderbird as having a valid digital signature, even if the shown message contents aren't covered by the signature. The flaw allows an attacker to reuse a valid S/MIME signature to craft an email message with arbitrary content. This vulnerability affects Thunderbird < 60.5.1.
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Exploit Intelligence
Elevated risk: more likely to be exploited than 75% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-347 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2018-16042 | Medium | 6.5 | 82% | - | - |
| CVE-2025-25292 | Critical | 9.8 | 65% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2025-59718 | Critical | 9.8 | 63% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2021-22160 | Critical | 9.8 | 53% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2013-3900 | Medium | 5.5 | 45% | KEV | - |
| CVE-2018-0114 | High | 7.5 | 43% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2018-18509?
Published advisories record a fix for 3 affected products. The "How to fix" section on this page lists the fixed version and source advisory for each one, so apply the entry matching what you actually run.
Is CVE-2018-18509 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2018-18509 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 1.7% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 75% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2018-18509?
CVE-2018-18509 has a CVSS v3 base score of 5.3, rated medium. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2018-18509 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for thunderbird (Debian), thunderbird (Ubuntu), Mozilla Thunderbird (en-US) (Windows application). Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2024-11-21.