CVE-2017-16228

Dulwich before 0.18.5, when an SSH subprocess is used, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via an ssh URL with an initial dash character in the hostname, a related issue to CVE-2017-9800, CVE-2017-12836, CVE-2017-12976, CVE-2017-1000116, and CVE-2017-1000117.

Published: 2017-10-29 Last update: 2026-05-13 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2017-16228 is rated Moderate Risk (60.5/100): CVSS Critical severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.42%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2017-16228

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-01-23 0.74% 0.42% -0.32%
2 2025-10-01 1.03% 0.74% -0.29%
3 2025-03-30 — 1.03% —

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2017-16228

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.0 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
7.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2017-16228

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2017-16228

OS Trackers for CVE-2017-16228

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2017-16228 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (dulwich), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2017-16228
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-16228
suse medium CVE-2017-16228 severity moderate: SUSE including 9 source package names (python-dulwich-0.18.5-4.3.1, python3-dulwich-0.20.24-150400.1.4, …), 11 product×package rows across 6 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP4, SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5, … (6 product lines)): Fixed 11. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-16228/
ubuntu low CVE-2017-16228 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (dulwich), 21 status rows across 21 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial, zesty): not-affected 16, ignored 2, DNE 1, needed 1, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-16228

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2017-16228

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
dulwich_project dulwich <= 0.18.4 cpe:2.3:a:dulwich_project:dulwich:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2017-16228

URL Tags
https://tracker.debian.org/news/882440 Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
https://www.dulwich.io/code/dulwich/ Product Vendor Advisory
https://www.dulwich.io/code/dulwich/commit/7116a0cbbda571f7dac863f4b1c00b6e16d6d8d6/ Issue Tracking Patch Vendor Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence