Exploited CVE from 2018, added in 2022

CVE-2018-0147

Cisco Secure Access Control System (ACS) · Identity and access

Cisco Secure Access Control System Java Deserialization Vulnerability

At a glance

Exploited. Added to CISA’s catalog of exploited vulnerabilities on March 25, 2022.

Affected product: Cisco Secure Access Control System (ACS) (category Identity and access, indicative classification). Name in CISA’s catalog: Cisco Secure Access Control System (ACS).

What should I do?

Apply the security update from Cisco.

Deadline set by CISA for US federal agencies: 21 days (due April 15, 2022). It only binds those agencies, but it is a useful measure of urgency.

Cisco security advisories page (general page, not the advisory for this vulnerability)
The vendor’s specific advisory is listed in the NVD references: CVE-2018-0147 on the NVD website.

Original text of the required action (CISA)

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Timeline

March 8, 2018 Vulnerability published Publication date (NVD)
March 25, 2022 Exploitation confirmed Added to CISA’s KEV catalog
April 15, 2022 CISA deadline Remediation deadline set for US federal agencies

The facts, with their sources

Exploitation confirmed: Yes, on March 25, 2022 Date added to the catalog of exploited vulnerabilities. Exploitation itself may have started earlier. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Ransomware: No known use to date That does not guarantee it is not being used: the information is not public. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Hunt for compromise: Not requested by CISA Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CISA required action: Apply the security update from Cisco. Rewritten by this site from CISA’s original text. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CISA deadline: April 15, 2022, 21 days Set for US federal agencies: a measure of urgency, not an obligation elsewhere. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Vulnerability published: March 8, 2018 Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC
Product according to CISA: Cisco Secure Access Control System (ACS) Filed by this site under “Identity and access” (indicative classification). Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Technical detail of the score: attack vector, complexity, impact. Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC

Severity and activity

9.8 / 10 CVSS severity: critical

Score from the NVD. Collected Sep 29, 2026.

— Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS)

FIRST’s EPSS model. Since exploitation is already confirmed, this figure is mostly useful to compare activity. Collected Sep 29, 2026.

Description

A vulnerability in Java deserialization used by Cisco Secure Access Control System (ACS) prior to release 5.8 patch 9 could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insecure deserialization of user-supplied content by the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted serialized Java object. An exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the device with root privileges. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvh25988.

A vulnerability in Java deserialization used by Cisco Secure Access Control System (ACS) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insecure deserialization of user-supplied content by the affected software.

Summary from CISA (KEV catalog).

CERT-FR advisories

No advisory among the latest CERT-FR publications this site follows. That does not mean there are none.

Information reused under the Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab); the date of last update is shown for each advisory. This site is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by ANSSI.

Sources for this page

CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, required action, deadline, ransomware.
NVD (NIST): CVSS severity, publication date, description, vendor references.
EPSS (FIRST): probability of exploitation.
CERT-FR: advisories and alerts (in French).
Brand and category: indicative classification by this site (method).