CVE-2017-16020
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 · uneditedSummit is a node web framework. When using the PouchDB driver in the module, Summit 0.1.0 and later allows an attacker to execute arbitrary commands via the collection name.
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 confidenceSummit is a Node.js web framework. The PouchDB driver in Summit versions 0.1.0 and later contains a command injection vulnerability where user-supplied input for the collection name parameter is not properly sanitized before being used in system commands, allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the host system.
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>= 0.1.0, <= 0.1.21CVSS 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:3.1/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 Summit installation and versionRun 'npm list summit' or check package.json for the summit dependency versionAffected if The installed version is >= 0.1.0 and <= 0.1.21
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Confirm PouchDB driver usageRun 'npm list pouchdb' or check if PouchDB is listed in package.json dependencies, and inspect code for 'pouchdb' or '@summitjs/pouchdb' require/import statementsAffected if PouchDB is installed and used as the database driver in the Summit application
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Inspect collection name parameter handlingSearch source code for endpoints or functions that accept collection name input and pass it to PouchDB operations (look for patterns like collectionName, collection, or db.collection)Affected if User-supplied input is directly passed to collection name parameters without sanitization
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Check for command execution pathsReview code that interacts with PouchDB and look for any exec, spawn, or shell execution functions that use collection name valuesAffected if Collection name parameters are used in any system command execution context
A defender is affected if Summit version is between 0.1.0 and 0.1.21 inclusive AND PouchDB is used with collection names that accept user input without validation.
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 to a patched version of Summit that properly sanitizes collection name inputs, or implement input validation/escaping for all collection name parameters before passing them to PouchDB operations.
- 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-2017-16020 — 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-2017-16020 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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