What is CVE-2019-8978?

CVE-2019-8978 is a high-severity vulnerability in Ellucian Banner Enterprise Identity Services, classified under Improper Authentication. CVSS score: 8.1/10. Published 2019-05-14.

How severe is CVE-2019-8978?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.1 out of 10.

Is CVE-2019-8978 known to be exploited?

5 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Auth bypass in Ellucian Banner Enterprise Identity Services

CVE-2019-8978

An improper authentication vulnerability can be exploited through a race condition that occurs in Ellucian Banner Web Tailor 8.8.3, 8.8.4, and 8.9 and Banner Enterprise Identity Services 8.3, 8.3.1, 8.3.2, and 8.4, in conjunction with SSO Manager. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to steal a victim's session (and cause a denial of service) by repeatedly requesting the initial Banner Web Tailor main page with the IDMSESSID cookie set to the victim's UDCID, which in the case tested is the institutional ID. During a login attempt by a victim, the attacker can leverage the race condition and will be issued the SESSID that was meant for this victim.

Vulnerability class: Broken Authentication

Published 2019-05-14 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.1 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.059 (92.9th percentile), scored 2026-09-30.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 93rd percentile — 92.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.059 · newest: 0.059 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Ellucian Banner Enterprise Identity Services — versions 8.3, 8.3.1, 8.3.2
Ellucian Banner Web Tailor — versions 8.8.3, 8.8.4, 8.9

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2019/May/18 (mailing-list, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
packetstormsecurity.com/files/152856/Ellucian-Banner-Web-Tailor-Banner-Enterpri… (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/May/31 (mailing-list, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
raw.githubusercontent.com/JoshuaMulliken/CVE-2019-8978/master/README.txt (Third Party Advisory)
ecommunities.ellucian.com/message/252749 (Permissions Required)
ecommunities.ellucian.com/message/252810 (Permissions Required)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-8978?: CVE-2019-8978 is a high-severity vulnerability in Ellucian Banner Enterprise Identity Services, classified under Improper Authentication. CVSS score: 8.1/10. Published 2019-05-14.
How severe is CVE-2019-8978?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.1 out of 10.
Is CVE-2019-8978 known to be exploited?: 5 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.