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
Published Nov 14, 2017
9.8
CRITICALCVSS 3.0
EPSS 99.84%
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.
Affected products
-
- Version 1.2.0 to 1.6.1StatusaffectedConstraints-
- Version 2.0.0 to 2.1.0StatusaffectedConstraints-
- Version
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apache Software Foundation | Apache CouchDB | n/a |
|
No data.
No Red Hat product state for this CVE.
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
No remediation recorded yet.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.1 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 1, 2026.
Score over time
2021–2026- EPSS v1
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v1
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (18 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 99.84% (0.99838) | 99.96th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 99.92% (0.99924) | 99.97th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 94.15% (0.94148) | 99.90th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 97.37% (0.97374) | 99.93th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Jun 17, 2024 | 97.37% (0.97374) | 99.91th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| May 10, 2024 | 97.39% (0.97392) | 99.91th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Feb 18, 2024 | 97.35% (0.97348) | 99.88th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Nov 8, 2023 | 97.41% (0.97413) | 99.91th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Oct 25, 2023 | 97.52% (0.97516) | 99.98th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Sep 24, 2023 | 97.53% (0.97532) | 99.99th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| May 8, 2023 | 97.54% (0.97538) | 99.98th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Apr 28, 2023 | 97.52% (0.97522) | 99.97th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 97.53% (0.97534) | 99.98th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 97.11% (0.97109) | 100.00th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 97.11% (0.97109) | 100.00th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 78.87% (0.78872) | 99.83th | v1 |
| Sep 1, 2021 | 78.87% (0.78872) | 99.91th | v1 |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 78.87% (0.78872) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (7)
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101868 vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/6c405bf3f8358e6314076be9f48c89a2e0ddf00539906291ebdf0c67%40%3Cdev.couchdb.apache.org%3E mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/01/msg00026.html mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201711-16 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOOThird Party Advisory
- https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-hpesbmu03935en_us x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44498/ exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45019/ exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101868 | vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry | |
| https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/6c405bf3f8358e6314076be9f48c89a2e0ddf00539906291ebdf0c67%40%3Cdev.couchdb.apache.org%3E | mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST | |
| https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/01/msg00026.html | mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST | |
| https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201711-16 | vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOOThird Party Advisory | |
| https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-hpesbmu03935en_us | x_refsource_CONFIRM | |
| https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44498/ | exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB | |
| https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45019/ | exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.