CVE-2017-17805

The Salsa20 encryption algorithm in the Linux kernel before 4.14.8 does not correctly handle zero-length inputs, allowing a local attacker able to use the AF_ALG-based skcipher interface (CONFIG_CRYPTO_USER_API_SKCIPHER) to cause a denial of service (uninitialized-memory free and kernel crash) or have unspecified other impact by executing a crafted sequence of system calls that use the blkcipher_walk API. Both the generic implementation (crypto/salsa20_generic.c) and x86 implementation (arch/x86/crypto/salsa20_glue.c) of Salsa20 were vulnerable.

Published: 2017-12-20 Last update: 2026-05-13 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2017-17805 is rated Low Risk (32.8/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2017-17805

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 2026-01-20 0.11% 0.02% -0.09%
2 2025-07-06 0.04% 0.11% +0.07%
3 2025-03-30 — 0.04% —

Full EPSS history (7 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2017-17805

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.2 2.0 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 3.9 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2017-17805

OS Trackers for CVE-2017-17805

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2017-17805 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2017-17805
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-17805
suse high CVE-2017-17805 severity important: SUSE including 242 source package names (bpftool-3.10.0-957.el7, cluster-md-kmp-default-4.12.14-120.1, …), 455 product×package rows across 70 product lines (SLES for SAP Applications 11 SP3, SUSE Liberty Linux 7, … (70 product lines)): Fixed 356, Known Not Affected 99. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-17805/
ubuntu medium CVE-2017-17805 medium priority: Ubuntu including 79 source packages (linux, linux-aws, …), 654 status rows across 11 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, trusty, upstream, xenial, zesty): DNE 425, not-affected 119, released 96, ignored 14. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-17805

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2017-17805

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 2.6.25, < 3.2.97 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 3.3, < 3.16.52 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 3.17, < 3.18.89 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 3.19, < 4.1.49 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.2, < 4.4.107 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.5, < 4.9.71 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.10, < 4.14.8 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse leap 42.2 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:42.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse_project leap 42.3 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse_project:leap:42.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_desktop 12 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_desktop:12:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_desktop 12 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_desktop:12:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_server 11 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_server:11:extra:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_server 11 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_server:11:sp4:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_server 12 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_server:12:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_server 12 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_server:12:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_server_for_raspberry_pi 12 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_server_for_raspberry_pi:12:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 12.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 14.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 16.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 17.10 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:17.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2017-17805

URL Tags
http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=ecaaab5649781c5a0effdaf298a925063020500e Patch
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2018-01/msg00006.html Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2018-01/msg00007.html Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2018-01/msg00008.html Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2018-01/msg00014.html Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2018-01/msg00016.html Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/102291 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2948 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3083 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3096 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2473 Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/ecaaab5649781c5a0effdaf298a925063020500e Patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/01/msg00004.html Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3617-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3617-2/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3617-3/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3619-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3619-2/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3620-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3620-2/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3632-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2017/dsa-4073 Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4082 Third Party Advisory
https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/ChangeLog-4.14.8 Issue Tracking Release Notes
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