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Cf ReleaseApplication · Cloudfoundry

CVE-2015-5172

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2017-10-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.7.0 / 2.5.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
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 password reset links.

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 confidence

The vulnerability exists in Cloud Foundry's UAA (User Account and Authentication) component where password reset links fail to expire, allowing stale reset tokens to remain valid indefinitely. An attacker with access to these tokens (through interception, log exposure, or other means) can use them to reset user passwords and gain unauthorized access to accounts.

MitigationUpgrade to UAA 2.5.2+, cf-release 216+, or PCF Elastic Runtime 1.7.0+ to implement proper expiration of password reset tokens. Consider invalidating any existing password reset tokens as a precautionary measure.

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
Cf ReleaseApplication
Affected:< 216
Cloud Foundry Elastic RuntimeApplication
Affected:< 1.7.0
Cloud Foundry UaaApplication
Affected:< 2.5.2

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check the installed UAA version
    Run 'uaac target' to connect to the UAA server, then use 'uaac context' or check the UAA manifest and deployment configuration files to identify the version number
    Affected if The UAA version is lower than 2.5.2
  2. Check the cf-release version
    Run 'bosh releases' to list installed releases, or examine the cf-release manifest file in your deployment repository
    Affected if The cf-release version is lower than 216
  3. Confirm Cloud Foundry Elastic Runtime version
    Access the Pivotal Ops Manager dashboard and view the Elastic Runtime product details, or use 'cf curl /v2/info' to query the API endpoint for version information
    Affected if The Elastic Runtime version is lower than 1.7.0
  4. Inspect UAA password reset token configuration
    Examine the UAA configuration YAML file (typically found in the deployment manifest under the 'uaa:' section) for any token expiration settings such as 'passwdResetTimeout' or similar parameters controlling reset token validity duration
    Affected if No expiration timeout is explicitly configured for password reset tokens or the timeout is not set to a finite value

If any of the UAA version is below 2.5.2, cf-release is below 216, or Elastic Runtime is below 1.7.0, and password reset tokens lack proper expiration configuration, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.7.0 / 2.5.2 / 216 or later
Fixed in 1.7.02.5.2216
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to UAA 2.5.2+, cf-release 216+, or PCF Elastic Runtime 1.7.0+ to implement proper expiration of password reset tokens. Consider invalidating any existing password reset tokens as a precautionary measure.

Recommended fix High confidence

cf-release 216 / UAA 2.5.2 / Elastic Runtime 1.7.0 or later

  1. 1. Review the Cloud Foundry upgrade documentation for your deployment type
  2. 2. Create a backup of your current Cloud Foundry configuration and database
  3. 3. Upgrade cf-release to version 216 or later
  4. 4. Upgrade Cloud Foundry UAA to version 2.5.2 or later
  5. 5. Upgrade Cloud Foundry Elastic Runtime to version 1.7.0 or later
  6. 6. After upgrading, verify that password reset links now expire properly by testing the password reset functionality
  7. 7. Monitor logs to confirm the upgrade completed without errors
Caveat Review release notes for breaking changes between your current version and the target version before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Cf Release Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-5172 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data