CVE-2015-5171
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe password change functionality in Cloud Foundry Runtime cf-release before 216, UAA before 2.5.2, and Pivotal Cloud Foundry (PCF) Elastic Runtime before 1.7.0 allow attackers to have unspecified impact by leveraging failure to expire existing sessions.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe password change functionality in Cloud Foundry's UAA (User Account and Authentication) component fails to invalidate existing active sessions when a user's password is changed. This allows an attacker who has obtained credentials (or a malicious insider) to maintain persistent access to the account even after the legitimate user changes their password, as their existing session tokens remain valid.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data< 216< 1.7.0< 2.5.2CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check UAA versionLocate the UAA component in your Cloud Foundry deployment and query its version, typically found in the release manifest or by accessing the UAA health endpoint at /healthzAffected if UAA version is below 2.5.2
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Check cf-release versionIdentify the cf-release version deployed in your environment by reviewing the deployment manifest or BOSH deployment informationAffected if cf-release version is below 216
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Check Elastic Runtime versionIdentify the Pivotal Cloud Foundry Elastic Runtime version through the Ops Manager or deployment manifestAffected if Elastic Runtime version is below 1.7.0
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Verify password change session behaviorCreate a test user session, change the user's password via the UAA API, then attempt to use the original session token to access resourcesAffected if Original session token remains valid after password change
You are affected if any of your UAA, cf-release, or Elastic Runtime versions fall below the fixed versions (2.5.2, 216, 1.7.0 respectively), and sessions persist after password changes.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped1.7.02.5.2216
Upgrade UAA to version 2.5.2 or later, cf-release to 216 or later, and PCF Elastic Runtime to 1.7.0 or later. Additionally, consider manually invalidating all active user sessions in the environment as a precautionary measure.
cf-release 216, UAA 2.5.2, Elastic Runtime 1.7.0 (or later stable releases within the same major branch)
- Upgrade Cloud Foundry cf-release to version 216 or later
- Upgrade Cloud Foundry UAA to version 2.5.2 or later
- Upgrade Cloud Foundry Elastic Runtime to version 1.7.0 or later
- After upgrading, verify that password changes properly invalidate existing sessions
- Confirm all components are running the patched versions using 'cf version' or UAA admin tools
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-5171 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-5171 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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