CVE-2017-1550
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 Sterling File Gateway 2.2 could allow an authenticated user to change other user's passwords. IBM X-Force ID: 131290.
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 confidenceIBM Sterling File Gateway 2.2 contains an Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) vulnerability in its password change functionality. An authenticated user can change passwords for other user accounts by manipulating parameters in the password change request, bypassing proper authorization checks. This constitutes a broken access control vulnerability allowing vertical privilege escalation where any authenticated user can take over other accounts.
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= 2.2CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
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 Sterling File Gateway installationLocate the IBM Sterling File Gateway installation directory and identify the installed version number. Check application documentation or installed programs listing for version information.Affected if The installed version is exactly 2.2.0
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Confirm password change functionality is accessibleVerify that the password change or user management feature is enabled and accessible within the Sterling File Gateway application. Check user role configurations to see if standard users have access to password modification interfaces.Affected if Password change functionality is available to authenticated users in version 2.2
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Verify user authentication is enabledConfirm that user authentication is configured and active for the Sterling File Gateway application. Check if local user accounts or external authentication (LDAP, etc.) is in use.Affected if User authentication is enabled, allowing any authenticated user to access the application
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Check for user privilege separationReview the application's user role definitions and access control configurations. Determine if there are administrative and non-administrative user roles defined.Affected if The application allows standard authenticated users to access password change functionality without proper authorization checks
You are affected if IBM Sterling File Gateway version 2.2 is installed and user authentication is enabled, as the IDOR vulnerability allows any authenticated user to modify other users' passwords.
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 dataImplement proper authorization validation in the password change endpoint to verify the authenticated user has permission to modify the specific target user's password. Consider enforcing that users can only change their own password, or implementing role-based access control for administrative password reset functionality.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-1550 — 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-2017-1550 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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