CVE-2017-9791 [Exploited] | Apache STRUTS Input Validation Bypass

CVE-2017-9791 is rated Critical Active Threat (99.1/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 94.13%, 100th percentile). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2022-02-10) affecting Apache / Struts 1. a weakness (CWE-20) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

EDB-ID	Source	Kind	Published	Link
44643	exploit_db	edb	2018-05-17	Exploit-DB ↗
42324	exploit_db	edb	2017-07-07	Exploit-DB ↗

EDB-ID

Source

Kind

Published

Link

44643

exploit_db

edb

2018-05-17

Exploit-DB ↗

42324

exploit_db

edb

2017-07-07

Exploit-DB ↗

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-04-22	94.24%	94.13%	-0.11%
2	2025-11-21	94.05%	94.24%	+0.19%
3	2025-11-18	—	94.05%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-04-22

94.24%

94.13%

-0.11%

2025-11-21

94.05%

94.24%

+0.19%

2025-11-18

—

94.05%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
9.8	3.1	CRITICAL	`CVSS:3.1/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]
9.8	3.1	CRITICAL	`CVSS:3.1/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	134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
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]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

9.8

3.1

CRITICAL

CVSS:3.1/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]

9.8

3.1

CRITICAL

CVSS:3.1/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

134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

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]

OS Trackers for CVE-2017-9791

vendor	priority	summary	link
`redhat`	high	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-9791
`ubuntu`	high	CVE-2017-9791 high priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libstruts1.2-java), 5 status rows across 5 suites (trusty, upstream, xenial, yakkety, zesty): DNE 4, needs-triage 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-9791

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2017-9791

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
apache	struts	2.3.1	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.1:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.1.1	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.1.1:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.1.2	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.1.2:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.3	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.3:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.4	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.4:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.4.1	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.4.1:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.7	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.7:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.8	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.8:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.12	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.12:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.14	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.14:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.14.1	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.14.1:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.14.2	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.14.2:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.14.3	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.14.3:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.15	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.15:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.15.1	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.15.1:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.15.2	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.15.2:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.15.3	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.15.3:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.16	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.16:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.16.1	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.16.1:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.16.2	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.16.2:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.16.3	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.16.3:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.20	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.20:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.20.1	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.20.1:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.20.3	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.20.3:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.24	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.24:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.24.1	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.24.1:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.24.3	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.24.3:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.28	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.28:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.28.1	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.28.1:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.29	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.29:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.30	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.30:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.31	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.31:::::::*
apache	struts	2.3.32	cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.32:::::::*

References for CVE-2017-9791

URL	Tags
http://struts.apache.org/docs/s2-048.html	Mitigation Vendor Advisory
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/alert-cve-2017-9805-3889403.html	Patch Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/99484	Third Party Advisory VDB Entry Broken Link
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1038838	Third Party Advisory VDB Entry Broken Link
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20180706-0002/	Third Party Advisory
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42324/	Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44643/	Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2017-9791	US Government Resource

URL

CVE-2017-9791

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2017-9791

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2017-9791

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2017-9791

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2017-9791

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2017-9791

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2017-9791

OS Trackers for CVE-2017-9791

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2017-9791

References for CVE-2017-9791