CVE-2017-1000438
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 · uneditedIn OMERO 5.3.3 or earlier a user could create an OriginalFile and adjust its path such that it now points to another user's file on the underlying filesystem, then manipulate the user's data.
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 confidenceIn OMERO 5.3.3 and earlier, an insecure direct object reference (IDOR) combined with insufficient path validation allows authenticated users to create an OriginalFile object and manipulate its path attribute to point to files belonging to other users on the underlying filesystem, enabling unauthorized data access and manipulation.
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<= 5.3.3CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
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 the installed OMERO versionUse the OMERO admin command 'omero version' or check the server log files for the version string at startupAffected if The version is 5.3.3 or any earlier version (5.3.0 through 5.3.3, or pre-5.3 versions)
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Confirm OriginalFile functionality is accessibleVerify that the OMERO web or API interface allows authenticated users to create or modify OriginalFile objects through the file upload or file management featuresAffected if Users can access the OriginalFile create/modify endpoints without additional authorization validation
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Check for file system path validation in OMERO configurationInspect the OMERO server configuration files (typically in etc/omero.cfg or etc/server.cfg) for any path validation or path restriction settings related to OriginalFile storageAffected if No path validation or allowlist controls are configured for file path operations
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Review user file access patternsExamine the OMERO data directory structure and compare user-specific directories to verify that users can only access their designated foldersAffected if Users can navigate to or access files outside their allocated user directory via OriginalFile path manipulation
You are affected if running OMERO version 5.3.3 or earlier and the OriginalFile feature is accessible to authenticated users without additional path authorization checks.
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 OMERO 5.3.4 or later, which contains proper path validation and authorization checks to ensure users can only access files within their designated directories.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-1000438 — 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-2017-1000438 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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- 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