CVE-2017-16551
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 gain privileges by sending a specific IOCTL after setting the memory in a particular way.
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 · moderate confidenceK7 Antivirus Premium kernel driver before version 15.1.0.53 contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability. The flaw allows an unprivileged local user to send a specific IOCTL request to the driver after manipulating memory in a particular way, enabling the attacker to elevate their 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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/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 security productsCheck Program Files folder for K7computing directories, or check Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for K7 product entriesAffected if Any K7computing Antivirus, Endpoint, Internet Security, Total Security, or Ultimate Security product is found on the system
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Retrieve installed K7 product versionOpen Programs and Features in Control Panel, or query the registry key for the specific K7 product, to obtain the installed version numberAffected if The displayed version is below 15.1.0.53 for Premium/Antivirus, below 15.1.0308 for Antivirus, below 14.2.0137 for Endpoint, below 15.1.0297 for Internet Security, below 15.1.0324 or 16.0.0131 for Total Security, or below 15.1.0324 for Ultimate Security
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Locate the K7 kernel driver fileSearch for K7 .sys driver files in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\ (commonly named K7*.sys, for example K7AVSFT.sys or K7AVWin.sys)Affected if A K7 kernel driver file exists in the drivers directory, indicating the driver may be loaded
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Check if K7 kernel driver is currently loadedOpen Command Prompt as Administrator and run 'sc query K7AVSVC' or 'sc query' with the specific K7 service name to query the driver service statusAffected if The service is running, meaning the vulnerable kernel driver is active and the IOCTL interface is available for exploitation
The system is affected if a K7 product is installed with a version below the fixed releases AND the K7 kernel driver is loaded and running 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
Upgrade K7 Antivirus Premium to version 15.1.0.53 or later, which contains the vendor fix for this privilege escalation vulnerability.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-16551 — 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-2017-16551 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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