CVE-2015-7817
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 · uneditedRace condition in the administration-panel web service in IBM System Networking Switch Center (SNSC) before 7.3.1.5 and Lenovo Switch Center before 8.1.2.0 allows remote attackers to obtain privileged-account access, and consequently provide FileReader.jsp input containing directory traversal sequences to read arbitrary text files, via a request to port 40080 or 40443.
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 confidenceA race condition in the administration-panel web service of IBM SNSC before 7.3.1.5 and Lenovo Switch Center before 8.1.2.0 allows remote attackers to gain privileged-account access. Once authenticated as admin, attackers can exploit a directory traversal vulnerability in FileReader.jsp to read arbitrary text files on the system via ports 40080 or 40443.
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<= 7.3.1.4<= 8.1.1.0CVSS 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
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:N/A:N
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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Identify installed product and versionAccess the administration-panel web interface or check the installed software package for IBM System Networking Switch Center or Lenovo Switch Center. Look for a version indicator in the about/help section or in the installed programs list.Affected if The installed version is IBM SNSC 7.3.1.4 or earlier, or Lenovo Switch Center 8.1.1.0 or earlier.
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Verify web service is accessibleAttempt to access the administration-panel web service by browsing to http or https on ports 40080 or 40443. For example: http://<hostname>:40080/ or http://<hostname>:40443/.Affected if The administration-panel web service is reachable on ports 40080 or 40443.
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Check for FileReader.jsp endpointProbe for the vulnerable FileReader.jsp component by requesting a URL such as: http://<hostname>:40080/FileReader.jsp or http://<hostname>:40443/FileReader.jsp.Affected if FileReader.jsp is present and responds to requests.
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Test for directory traversal vulnerabilitySend a crafted request to FileReader.jsp attempting to access a system file outside the web root, such as: http://<hostname>:40080/FileReader.jsp?file=../../../../../../etc/passwdAffected if The response contains content from files outside the intended directory, indicating the directory traversal is functional.
You are affected if the installed version is IBM SNSC 7.3.1.4 or earlier, or Lenovo Switch Center 8.1.1.0 or earlier, and the administration-panel on ports 40080/40443 is accessible and contains the vulnerable FileReader.jsp endpoint.
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.
From vendor dataUpgrade to IBM SNSC 7.3.1.5 or Lenovo Switch Center 8.1.2.0 or later to patch the race condition and directory traversal vulnerability. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, restrict network access to ports 40080/40443 to trusted administrative IPs.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-7817 — 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-2015-7817 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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