CVE-2019-18988
HIGHCISA KEVEPSS 91th pctlDescription
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.
How to fix
Actively exploited, no published fix found yet
CISA required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Federal remediation due: 2022-05-03
Mitigation guidance may be in the linked vendor advisories in the References section below.
TridentStack Control tracks known vulnerabilities across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet and shows the fix as soon as one is published. See how it works
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
High risk: more likely to be exploited than 91% of all known CVEs.
TeamViewer Desktop Bypass Remote Login Vulnerability
TeamViewer Desktop allows for bypass of remote-login access control because the same AES key is used for different customers' installations. If an attacker were to know this key, they could decrypt protected information stored in registry or configuration files or decryption of the Unattended Access password to the system (which allows for remote login to the system).
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Remediation due: 2022-05-03
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-521 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2019-17444 | Critical | 9.8 | 69% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2012-2441 | High | 8.5 | 8.6% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-3186 | Critical | 9.8 | 6.1% | - | - |
| CVE-2018-1000134 | Critical | 9.8 | 4.9% | - | - |
| CVE-2017-6339 | Medium | 6.5 | 4.1% | - | - |
| CVE-2017-12861 | Critical | 9.8 | 3.3% | - | - |
Embed a live status badge for CVE-2019-18988
Markdown
[](https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2019-18988)HTML
<a href="https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2019-18988"><img src="https://tridentstack.com/cve/badge/CVE-2019-18988.svg" alt="CVE-2019-18988"></a>Find and fix vulnerabilities across your fleet
TridentStack Control continuously scans your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet for known vulnerabilities, prioritizes them by severity and active exploitation, and patches them automatically.
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 2025-11-07.