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CVE-2017-12635

CriticalCVSS 9.8 / 10
Published Nov 14, 2017·Last modified Apr 10, 2026
Affected Components(0)

No affected components available

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.

Risk Scores
Base Score
9.8

The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is easy for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker does not need any special privileges or access rights. No user interaction is needed for the attacker to exploit this vulnerability. The impact is confined to the system where the vulnerability exists. There is a high impact on the confidentiality of the information. There is a high impact on the integrity of the data. There is a high impact on the availability of the system.

Threat Intelligence
9.3

Active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. Immediate patching or mitigation is required.

EPSS
99.84%

The exploit probability is critical. The vulnerability is very likely to be exploited in the next 30 days.

Exploit
Proof of Concept

A proof of concept is available for this vulnerability (4 exploits found).

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