CVE-2017-11423
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 cabd_read_string function in mspack/cabd.c in libmspack 0.5alpha, as used in ClamAV 0.99.2 and other products, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (stack-based buffer over-read and application crash) via a crafted CAB file.
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 confidenceStack-based buffer over-read vulnerability in the cabd_read_string function in libmspack's cabd.c. When parsing specially crafted CAB archive files, the function reads beyond allocated buffer boundaries on the stack, causing application crash and denial of service.
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= 0.5CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/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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Identify installed libmspack versionQuery your system package manager or check the library binary version (e.g., dpkg -l libmspack, rpm -q libmspack, or inspect the shared library file metadata)Affected if the installed version is 0.5 exactly, as that is the sole affected version per the advisory
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Determine if applications link to libmspackReview application dependencies or scan binary executables for linkage to libmspack (e.g., ldd, obj -x, or dependency walk tools)Affected if any application on the system links against libmspack version 0.5
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Confirm CAB archive parsing is activeIdentify whether any application on the system processes .cab files, or check application logs/configuration for CAB file handling modulesAffected if any application processes CAB archive files using the vulnerable libmspack library
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Verify the cabd_read_string function is reachableIf source is available, confirm cabd.c is compiled and the CAB extraction/decompression code path is executed; if only binary, confirm the library function is invoked during CAB operationsAffected if the cabd_read_string function in cabd.c is called during CAB file processing
You are affected if you have libmspack version 0.5 installed and any application on your system uses it to parse CAB archive files.
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 dataUpdate libmspack to a patched version if available, or update affected applications (e.g., ClamAV) that bundle the vulnerable library version. Until patched, implement file type validation at entry points to reject malformed CAB files.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $5,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-11423 — 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-2017-11423 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
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