CVE-2017-16549
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 · uneditedK7 Antivirus Premium before 15.1.0.53 allows local users to write to arbitrary memory locations, and consequently gain privileges, via a specific set of IOCTL calls.
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 confidenceLocal privilege escalation vulnerability in K7 Antivirus Premium kernel-mode driver. The software exposes IOCTL handlers that allow local authenticated users to write to arbitrary memory locations, enabling escalation from standard user to SYSTEM privileges.
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< 15.1.0.53< 15.1.0308< 14.2.0137< 15.1.0297< 15.1.0324< 16.0.0131< 15.1.0324CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 K7 product and versionOpen Programs and Features (Windows) or check C:\Program Files\K7 Computing for the product installation folder. Look for K7 Antivirus Premium, K7 Endpoint, K7 Internet Security, K7 Total Security, or K7 Ultimate Security.Affected if Any K7 product from the affected list is installed with a version number lower than the fixed versions (15.1.0.53, 15.1.0308, 14.2.0137, 15.1.0297, 15.1.0324, or 16.0.0131 depending on product).
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Verify the vulnerable kernel driver is loadedOpen Command Prompt as administrator and run 'sc query K7AVS' or 'sc query K7FW' to check if the K7 kernel-mode driver service is running. Also check Device Manager for K7 Computing drivers under System devices.Affected if The K7 kernel driver service is in a running state, meaning the vulnerable IOCTL handler code is active in kernel memory.
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Confirm user context of the checkVerify that the account performing this check is a standard user account (not an administrator) to confirm the escalation path scenario described in the CVE.Affected if A standard user account can trigger the vulnerability, which would allow that user to escalate to SYSTEM privileges through the exposed IOCTL handlers.
You are affected if a vulnerable K7 product version is installed and the kernel driver is actively running, allowing a local authenticated standard user to potentially escalate to SYSTEM privileges through the insecure IOCTL handlers.
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 data14.2.013715.1.0.5315.1.0297
Update K7 Antivirus Premium to version 15.1.0.53 or later to obtain the vendor patch that addresses the improper IOCTL handling.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-16549 — 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-2017-16549 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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