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Integrated Remote Access Controller FirmwareOperating system · Dell

CVE-2015-7272

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-04-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.20.20.20 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
Dell Integrated Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) 6 before 2.80 and 7/8 before 2.21.21.21 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (buffer overflow) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a long SSH username or input.

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

Dell iDRAC versions 6 before 2.80 and 7/8 before 2.21.21.21 contain a buffer overflow vulnerability in the SSH authentication component. Attackers can trigger this by providing an excessively long SSH username, causing a denial of service or potentially achieving arbitrary code execution with the vulnerability's critical CVSS 9.8 rating.

MitigationApply the available firmware updates from Dell (iDRAC 6 version 2.80 or later, iDRAC 7/8 version 2.21.21.21 or later). If immediate patching is not possible, restrict SSH access to trusted management networks or disable SSH and use IPMI/DCMI interfaces instead.

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
Integrated Remote Access Controller FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 2.20.20.20<= 1.99

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:3.0/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. Determine iDRAC firmware version
    Log into the iDRAC web interface and navigate to iDRAC Settings > Overview > Firmware Version, or use the command: racadm getsysinfo -f (or ipmitool -I lanplus -H <idrac-ip> -U <user> fru print 2>/dev/null | grep -i firmware)
    Affected if Version is below 2.80 for iDRAC 6, or below 2.21.21.21 for iDRAC 7/8, or shows 2.20.20.20 or earlier, or 1.99 or earlier. If version cannot be determined, treat as potentially affected.
  2. Identify iDRAC generation
    The iDRAC version format indicates the generation: iDRAC6 versions typically start with 1.x or 2.x in the 2.x range (pre-2.80); iDRAC7/8 versions use the 2.21.x.x format. Check the numeric pattern of your firmware version.
    Affected if iDRAC 6 with version < 2.80, or iDRAC 7/8 with version < 2.21.21.21. If unsure of generation, check against both ranges.
  3. Verify if SSH service is enabled
    In iDRAC web interface, go to Services > SSH and check if SSH is set to Enabled, or run: racadm getconfig -g cfgRemoteHosts -o cfgSSHEnable
    Affected if SSH is enabled on the iDRAC. If SSH is disabled, the attack surface is removed though the vulnerable code may still exist in firmware.
  4. Confirm SSH accessibility
    Attempt to connect to port 22 on the iDRAC IP address: nc -zv <idrac-ip> 22 or telnet <idrac-ip> 22
    Affected if SSH port 22 is open and reachable from your network. The vulnerability is only exploitable if an attacker can reach the SSH service.

Your environment is affected if your iDRAC firmware version falls within the vulnerable ranges (iDRAC 6 < 2.80, or iDRAC 7/8 < 2.21.21.21) AND SSH is enabled and network-accessible, allowing remote attackers to trigger the buffer overflow with oversized SSH usernames.

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 a release after 2.20.20.20
Interim mitigation

Apply the available firmware updates from Dell (iDRAC 6 version 2.80 or later, iDRAC 7/8 version 2.21.21.21 or later). If immediate patching is not possible, restrict SSH access to trusted management networks or disable SSH and use IPMI/DCMI interfaces instead.

Recommended fix High confidence

iDRAC6: version 2.80 or later; iDRAC7/8: version 2.21.21.21 or later

  1. 1. Identify the iDRAC version currently installed on the Dell server (iDRAC6, iDRAC7, or iDRAC8)
  2. 2. For iDRAC6: Download and install firmware version 2.80 or later from Dell's support website
  3. 3. For iDRAC7/8: Download and install firmware version 2.21.21.21 or later from Dell's support website
  4. 4. Access the iDRAC web interface or use the iDRAC Lifecycle Controller to apply the firmware update
  5. 5. After reboot, verify the new firmware version is installed correctly
  6. 6. Test SSH access to confirm the vulnerability is remediated
Caveat Firmware updates may require server downtime; ensure proper backup of iDRAC settings and verify compatibility with existing management infrastructure before upgrading

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

Fix this in Integrated Remote Access Controller Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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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-2015-7272 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
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  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data