VulnerabilityPublished 24 Oct 2017Updated 9 Jun 2025

CVE-2017-15874: BusyBox · Integer Underflow

Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.0 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 13:47 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.0Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.9% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 59% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 24 Oct 2017
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Alpinealpine/busybox`pkg:apk/alpine/busybox`Other threats	Affected =1.27.2	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2017-15874 effectively, European organizations should: 1) Identify and inventory all devices running BusyBox, especially version 1.27.2 or similar, focusing on embedded systems and network appliances. 3) Restrict local access to affected devices by enforcing strict access controls, limiting user privileges, and monitoring for unauthorized login attempts. 4) Educate users and administrators about the risks of opening untrusted compressed archives, especially LZMA files, to reduce the chance of triggering the vulnerability. 5) Implement network segmentation to isolate embedded devices from critical network segments, reducing the risk of lateral movement if a device is compromised. 6) Employ runtime protections such as memory protection mechanisms and intrusion detection systems that can detect anomalous behavior related to decompression routines. 7) Regularly audit and monitor logs for unusual activity that could indicate exploitation attempts. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on embedded device management, user awareness specific to archive handling, and network-level controls tailored to the nature of the vulnerability.

Description

archival/libarchive/decompress_unlzma.c in BusyBox 1.27.2 has an Integer Underflow that leads to a read access violation.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2017-15874 depends largely on the deployment of BusyBox in their infrastructure, particularly in embedded devices such as network routers, industrial control systems, and IoT devices. Since the vulnerability allows for potential information disclosure through crafted LZMA archives, attackers with local access could extract sensitive data from affected devices. This could compromise confidentiality of internal configurations, credentials, or other sensitive information stored in memory. In critical infrastructure sectors or industries relying on embedded Linux systems, such as manufacturing, telecommunications, or energy, this could lead to further targeted attacks or lateral movement within networks. The requirement for local access and user interaction limits the risk of remote exploitation, but insider threats or compromised user accounts could still leverage this vulnerability. Additionally, many European organizations use embedded devices that may not be regularly updated, increasing the risk of exposure. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate risk, but the vulnerability remains a concern for long-term security posture and compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR, where unauthorized data disclosure is a serious issue.

References

bugs.busybox.net/show_bug.cgi?id=10436 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 10 Jul 2025, 20:47 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-191

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats