CVE-2018-14994
7.5 · HIGHOverview
CVE-2018-14994 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting essential phone_firmware. It was published on April 25, 2019 and has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 7.5, rated HIGH. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
Technical Description
The Essential Phone Android device with a build fingerprint of essential/mata/mata:8.1.0/OPM1.180104.166/297:user/release-keys contains a pre-installed platform app with a package name of com.ts.android.hiddenmenu (versionName=1.0, platformBuildVersionName=8.1.0) that contains an exported activity app component named com.ts.android.hiddenmenu.rtn.RTNResetActivity that allows any app co-located on the device to programmatically initiate a factory reset. In addition, the app initiating the factory reset does not require any permissions. A factory reset will remove all user data and apps from the device. This will result in the loss of any data that have not been backed up or synced externally. The capability to perform a factory reset is not directly available to third-party apps (those that the user installs themselves with the exception of enabled Mobile Device Management (MDM) apps), although this capability can be obtained by leveraging an unprotected app component of a pre-installed
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from essential. Update phone_firmware to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2018-14994?
CVE-2018-14994 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting essential phone_firmware. It was published on April 25, 2019 and has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).
How severe is CVE-2018-14994?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 7.5, rated HIGH. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2018-14994?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from essential. Update phone_firmware to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2018-14994?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2018-14994 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
AI agents map your attack surface to find vulnerabilities like this one.
Automated penetration testing that runs continuously, not just quarterly.
AI-driven PR review catches vulnerable dependencies before they ship.
Browser-based exploitation validates findings with real proof-of-concept.
Related HIGH CVEs from 2018
View all →IBM API Connect 5.0.0.0, 5.0.8.4, 2018.1 and 2018.3.6 is vulnerable to CSV injection via the develop
Craft CMS 2.6.3000 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary PHP code by using the "Assets->Uploa
In opencv/modules/imgcodecs/src/utils.cpp, functions FillUniColor and FillUniGray do not check the i
freedesktop.org libpoppler 0.60.1 fails to validate boundaries in TextPool::addWord, leading to over
Gnome gdk-pixbuf 2.36.8 and older is vulnerable to several integer overflow in the gif_get_lzw funct
In Octopus Deploy versions 3.2.11 - 4.1.5 (fixed in 4.1.6), an authenticated user with ProcessEdit p
Commsy version 9.0.0 is vulnerable to XXE attacks in the configuration import functionality resultin
phpMyAdmin versions 4.7.x (prior to 4.7.6.1/4.7.7) are vulnerable to a CSRF weakness. By deceiving a
pfSense versions 2.4.1 and lower are vulnerable to clickjacking attacks in the CSRF error page resul
IBM Tivoli Key Lifecycle Manager 2.6 and 2.7 is vulnerable to cross-site request forgery which could
Inteno iopsys 2.0-3.14 and 4.0 devices allow remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary OS comm
Xplico before 1.2.1 allows remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary commands via shell metach