What is CVE-2018-8856?

CVE-2018-8856 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Philips E-Alert Firmware, classified under Use of Hard-coded Credentials. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2018-09-26.

How severe is CVE-2018-8856?

Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.

Vulnerability in Philips E-Alert Firmware

CVE-2018-8856

Philips e-Alert Unit (non-medical device), Version R2.1 and prior. The software contains hard-coded cryptographic key, which it uses for encryption of internal data.

Published 2018-09-26 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 9.8 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.014 (71.0th percentile), scored 2026-09-29.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 71st percentile — 71.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.014 · newest: 0.014 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Philips E-Alert Firmware
Philips E-Alert Unit (Non-Medical Device) — versions R2.1 and prior

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-798 — Use of Hard-coded Credentials

References

www.usa.philips.com/healthcare/about/customer-support/product-security (Vendor Advisory)
www.securityfocus.com/bid/105194 (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry)
ics-cert.us-cert.gov/advisories/ICSA-18-242-01 (US Government Resource, Third Party Advisory, Mitigation)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-8856?: CVE-2018-8856 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Philips E-Alert Firmware, classified under Use of Hard-coded Credentials. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2018-09-26.
How severe is CVE-2018-8856?: Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.