CVE-2017-16550
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 confidenceK7 Antivirus Premium before version 15.1.0.53 contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability in its kernel-mode driver component. The software exposes insecure IOCTL (Input/Output Control) handlers that allow local unprivileged users to write to arbitrary memory locations, enabling them to escalate privileges to SYSTEM level.
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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Detect installed K7 productCheck Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for K7computing entries, or look for K7 software in Program FilesAffected if Any K7computing product is present
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Identify the specific K7 product nameExamine the registry key name under the Uninstall folder that contains 'K7' in the publisher or product name fieldAffected if Product is K7computing Antivirus, Endpoint, Internet Security, Total Security, or Ultimate Security
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Retrieve installed version numberRead the 'DisplayVersion' value from the same registry key where the K7 product is listed, or run 'wmic product where "name like 'K7%'" get name,version'Affected if Version number is lower than the safe threshold for that product
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Compare against affected version rangesMatch your installed version against: Antivirus < 15.1.0.53 or < 15.1.0308; Endpoint < 14.2.0137; Internet Security < 15.1.0297; Total Security < 15.1.0324 or < 16.0.0131; Ultimate Security < 15.1.0324Affected if Installed version falls below any of the listed thresholds for your product line
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Check if kernel driver is loadedOpen Services (services.msc) or run 'sc query' to check for K7 kernel-mode driver services (typically named K7AVS or similar), or check Device Manager for K7 filter drivers under non-plug and play driversAffected if K7 kernel driver is present and loaded
You are affected if a K7computing product is installed with a version number below the safe threshold for that product line and the kernel driver component is present on the system.
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. Organizations should prioritize patching endpoint protection software as these products run with high privileges and are frequent targets for local privilege escalation attacks.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-16550 — 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-2017-16550 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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