CVE-2017-17790

Exp

The lazy_initialize function in lib/resolv.rb in Ruby through 2.4.3 uses Kernel#open, which might allow Command Injection attacks, as demonstrated by a Resolv::Hosts::new argument beginning with a '|' character, a different vulnerability than CVE-2017-17405. NOTE: situations with untrusted input may be highly unlikely.

Published: 2017-12-20 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2017-17790 is rated High Exploit Risk (87.8/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 5.91%, 92th percentile). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). EPSS rose +1.26% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

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

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2017-17790

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2017-17790

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 2026-06-15 4.66% 5.91% +1.26%
2 2026-03-22 4.75% 4.66% -0.10%
3 2025-12-28 — 4.75% —

Full EPSS history (25 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2017-17790

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-2017-17790

OS Trackers for CVE-2017-17790

vendor priority summary link
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-17790
suse medium CVE-2017-17790 severity moderate: SUSE including 24 source package names (libruby2_1-2_1-2.1.9-19.3.2, ruby, …), 198 product×package rows across 75 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, Image SLES12-SP5-Azure-BYOS, … (75 product lines)): Fixed 140, Known Not Affected 54, Will Not Fix 4. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-17790/
ubuntu medium CVE-2017-17790 medium priority: Ubuntu including 3 source packages (ruby1.9.1, ruby2.3, ruby2.5), 18 status rows across 6 suites (artful, bionic, trusty, upstream, xenial, zesty): DNE 10, released 4, needs-triage 3, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-17790

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2017-17790

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
ruby-lang ruby >= 2.2, <= 2.2.8 cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ruby-lang ruby >= 2.3, <= 2.3.5 cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ruby-lang ruby >= 2.4, <= 2.4.2 cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ruby-lang ruby 2.5.0 cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:ruby:2.5.0:preview1:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2017-17790

cvelogic Threat Intelligence