CVE-2017-14388
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 · uneditedCloud Foundry Foundation GrootFS release 0.3.x versions prior to 0.30.0 do not validate DiffIDs, allowing specially crafted images to poison the grootfs volume cache. For example, this could allow an attacker to provide an image layer that GrootFS would consider to be the Ubuntu base layer.
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 confidenceGrootFS 0.3.x versions before 0.30.0 fail to validate DiffIDs (layer content hashes) when processing container images, allowing attackers to craft malicious image layers that get cached and trusted as legitimate base layers like Ubuntu. This cache poisoning enables privilege escalation by tricking the system into using attacker-controlled content as trusted system components.
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= 0.3.0= 0.4.0= 0.5.0= 0.6.0= 0.7.0= 0.8.0= 0.9.0= 0.10.0= 0.11.0= 0.12.0= 0.13.0= 0.14.0CVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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.
-
Locate GrootFS binary or packageRun 'which grootfs' or 'which groot' to find the executable, or check package manager listings (e.g., 'dpkg -l | grep groot' or 'rpm -qa | grep groot')Affected if GrootFS binary or package is present on the system
-
Determine installed GrootFS versionRun 'grootfs --version' or 'groot --version' if the binary is found, or query the package manager (e.g., 'dpkg -l | grep groot' or 'rpm -q grootfs')Affected if The version number matches any of these: 0.3.0, 0.4.0, 0.5.0, 0.6.0, 0.7.0, 0.8.0, 0.9.0, 0.10.0, 0.11.0, 0.12.0, 0.13.0, or 0.14.0
-
Verify image pulling and caching is activeCheck if GrootFS is configured to pull images from external registries by reviewing its configuration file (commonly in /etc/grootfs/ or /var/vcap/jobs/grootfs/config/) or by observing if container image operations are being performedAffected if GrootFS pulls and caches container images from registries, as this is the feature through which malicious DiffIDs could be injected into the cache
-
Inspect volume cache contentsExamine the volume cache directory (typically /var/lib/grootfs/volume-cache or /var/vcap/data/grootfs/volumes) for existing cached layers that may have been pulled using unvalidated DiffIDsAffected if Cached image layers exist from versions prior to 0.30.0, indicating potential cache poisoning has occurred
The environment is affected if GrootFS version 0.3.0 through 0.14.0 is installed and is being used to pull or cache container images, as the missing DiffID validation allows untrusted layers to be cached and trusted.
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 GrootFS to version 0.30.0 or later which implements proper DiffID validation to prevent untrusted image layers from being accepted into the volume cache.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-14388 — 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-2017-14388 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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