CVE-2017-12635
9.8 · CRITICALOverview
CVE-2017-12635 is a critical-severity vulnerability affecting apache couchdb. It was published on November 14, 2017 and has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 9.8, rated CRITICAL. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
Technical Description
Due to differences in the Erlang-based JSON parser and JavaScript-based JSON parser, it is possible in Apache CouchDB before 1.7.0 and 2.x before 2.1.1 to submit _users documents with duplicate keys for 'roles' used for access control within the database, including the special case '_admin' role, that denotes administrative users. In combination with CVE-2017-12636 (Remote Code Execution), this can be used to give non-admin users access to arbitrary shell commands on the server as the database system user. The JSON parser differences result in behaviour that if two 'roles' keys are available in the JSON, the second one will be used for authorising the document write, but the first 'roles' key is used for subsequent authorization for the newly created user. By design, users can not assign themselves roles. The vulnerability allows non-admin users to give themselves admin privileges.
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from apache. Update couchdb 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| apache | couchdb | >= 0, < 1.7.0 | Affected |
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2017-12635?
CVE-2017-12635 is a critical-severity vulnerability affecting apache couchdb. It was published on November 14, 2017 and has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL).
How severe is CVE-2017-12635?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 9.8, rated CRITICAL. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2017-12635?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from apache. Update couchdb 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-2017-12635?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2017-12635 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
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