CVE-2017-1304
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 · uneditedIBM has identified a vulnerability with IBM Spectrum Scale/GPFS utilized on the Elastic Storage Server (ESS)/GPFS Storage Server (GSS) during testing of an unsupported configuration, where users applications are running on an active ESS I/O server node and utilize direct I/O to perform a read or a write to a Spectrum Scale file. This vulnerability may result in the use of an incorrect memory address, leading to a Spectrum Scale/GPFS daemon failure with a Signal 11, and possibly leading to denial of service or undetected data corruption. IBM X-Force ID: 125458.
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 · moderate confidenceIBM Spectrum Scale/GPFS on Elastic Storage Server contains a memory addressing flaw when user applications run on an active ESS I/O server node and perform direct I/O operations to Spectrum Scale files. This causes incorrect memory address usage, leading to GPFS daemon crashes with Signal 11 and potential denial of service or undetected data corruption.
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= 2.0.0= 2.5.0= 2.5.5= 3.0.0= 3.0.5= 3.5.0= 3.5.6= 4.0.0= 4.0.6= 4.5.0= 4.6.0= 5.0.0CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/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 IBM Elastic Storage Server installationLocate and query the ESS system using IBM management commands (e.g., 'lsenfs' or 'mmlscluster' for Spectrum Scale/GPFS cluster information) to confirm the product is presentAffected if The system is running IBM Elastic Storage Server
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Check installed ESS versionRun IBM Spectrum Scale commands to retrieve the version (e.g., 'mmgetversion' or check /usr/lpp/-spectrum_scale for version files) and compare against the affected list: 2.0.0, 2.5.0, 2.5.5, 3.0.0, 3.0.5, 3.5.0, 3.5.6, 4.0.0, 4.0.6, 4.5.0, 4.6.0, 5.0.0Affected if The installed version matches one of the affected versions listed
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Determine if user applications run on ESS I/O server nodesReview deployment architecture and identify any user applications or workloads executing on active ESS I/O server nodes in the clusterAffected if User applications are running on active ESS I/O server nodes
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Check for direct I/O operations to Spectrum Scale filesMonitor or audit application I/O patterns for direct I/O usage (O_DIRECT flag) against GPFS-mounted file systems on the ESSAffected if Applications perform direct I/O operations to Spectrum Scale files on the ESS
The environment is affected if IBM Elastic Storage Server is running a listed affected version AND user applications are executing on active ESS I/O server nodes AND those applications perform direct I/O operations to Spectrum Scale 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 dataThis vulnerability only occurs in an explicitly unsupported configuration—avoid running user applications on active ESS I/O server nodes and instead use supported deployment architectures per IBM's documentation.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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-2017-1304 — 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-2017-1304 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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