CVE-2017-15531
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 · uneditedSymantec Reporter 9.5 prior to 9.5.4.1 and 10.1 prior to 10.1.5.5 does not restrict excessive authentication attempts for management interface users. A remote attacker can use brute force search to guess a user password and gain access to Reporter.
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 confidenceSymantec Reporter versions 9.5 prior to 9.5.4.1 and 10.1 prior to 10.1.5.5 lack authentication rate limiting or account lockout controls on the management interface, allowing remote attackers to perform unlimited password guessing attempts via brute force to gain unauthorized access.
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>= 9.5, < 9.5.4.1= 10.1CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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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Identify installed Symantec Reporter versionAccess the management interface and check the version in the About or System Information page, or run 'rpm -q symantec-reporter' or 'dpkg -l symantec-reporter' on the host if command-line access is availableAffected if The version displayed is 9.5.x where x is less than 4.1, or 10.1.x where x is less than 5.5 (including unpatched 10.1.0 through 10.1.5.4)
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Confirm management interface is enabledVerify the Reporter web management console is accessible on the default HTTPS port (usually 8082 or configured port) by attempting to reach the login page from an authorized network locationAffected if The management interface is exposed and accepts authentication attempts without any prior rate limiting at the network or application layer
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Test for authentication rate limitingAttempt 10-20 consecutive failed login attempts using invalid credentials to observe whether the application imposes any delay, temporary lockout, or captcha requirement between attemptsAffected if No delay, lockout, or captcha is imposed after multiple failed attempts - authentication continues without restriction
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Verify account lockout policy configurationLog in to the management interface as an administrator and navigate to Settings, Users, or Security configuration sections to check if an account lockout threshold or maximum failed attempts policy is definedAffected if No account lockout policy is visible or configurable in the security settings, or the settings show unlimited failed attempts are permitted
You are affected if your installed Symantec Reporter version falls within 9.5 to 9.5.4.0 or 10.1 to 10.1.5.4 and the management interface accepts authentication without rate limiting or account lockout controls.
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.
dbcve · scoped9.5.4.1
Implement account lockout policies or rate limiting on the management interface, and upgrade to version 9.5.4.1 or 10.1.5.5 or later which include the restriction of excessive authentication attempts.
Reporter 9.5.4.1 or later; Reporter 10.1.5.5 or later
- Identify currently installed Reporter version using the management interface or command line
- For Reporter 9.5.x: Plan upgrade to version 9.5.4.1 or later
- For Reporter 10.1.x: Plan upgrade to version 10.1.5.5 or later
- Review upgrade documentation and release notes for prerequisites
- Backup current configuration
- Execute upgrade following official Symantec/Broadcom upgrade procedure
- Verify the upgrade was successful and management interface is accessible
- Confirm the authentication protection is now in place by checking release notes or verifying attempt limits
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-15531 — 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-2017-15531 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data