CVE-2017-14329
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 · uneditedExtreme EXOS 16.x, 21.x, and 22.x allows administrators to obtain a root shell via vectors involving an exsh debug shell.
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 confidenceThis vulnerability in Extreme EXOS switches (versions 16.x, 21.x, and 22.x) allows authenticated administrators to escalate privileges to root by exploiting the exsh debug shell functionality. The debug shell, intended for diagnostic purposes, improperly grants root-level access when invoked by administrative users.
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= 15.7= 16.1.2= 16.1.3= 16.1.4= 16.2= 16.2.2= 16.2.3= 16.2.4= 21.1= 21.1.1= 21.1.2= 21.1.3CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine EXOS versionUse the 'show version' command on the switch CLI to retrieve the installed firmware versionAffected if The displayed version matches any of these: 15.7, 16.1.2, 16.1.3, 16.1.4, 16.2, 16.2.2, 16.2.3, 16.2.4, 21.1, 21.1.1, 21.1.2, 21.1.3
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Verify exsh debug shell availabilityAttempt to access the exsh debug shell by typing 'exsh' or checking if the debug shell is listed in available commands for your administrative accountAffected if The exsh command is accessible and functional from your administrative account
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Check administrative account privilegesUse 'show admin' or 'show user' commands to list configured administrative accounts and their privilege levelsAffected if There are one or more administrative accounts configured with access to the switch CLI where exsh could be invoked
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Confirm debug shell executes as rootOnce in the exsh shell, observe whether commands execute with root-level privileges by default (the vulnerability allows the debug shell to grant root access to admin users)Affected if The debug shell grants root-level access when entered by any administrative user
You are affected if your switch runs any of the listed EXOS versions AND the exsh debug shell is accessible to administrative users on your device.
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 dataApply vendor-supplied firmware updates to move to a patched version beyond 22.x. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict administrative access and disable or limit the exsh debug shell functionality through access control policies.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-14329 — 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-2017-14329 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
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