CVE-2017-16659
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 · uneditedThe Gentoo mail-filter/assp package 1.9.8.13030 and earlier allows local users to gain privileges by leveraging access to the assp user account to install a Trojan horse /usr/share/assp/assp.pl script.
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 confidenceLocal privilege escalation vulnerability in Gentoo's mail-filter/assp package (versions 1.9.8.13030 and earlier). Local users with access to the assp user account can install a malicious Trojan horse version of /usr/share/assp/assp.pl script to gain elevated 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<= 1.9.8.13030CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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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Check installed assp package versionRun `emerge -a mail-filter/assp` or `equery list mail-filter/assp` to list installed version, or check with `dpkg -l | grep assp` on Debian-based systemsAffected if Installed version is 1.9.8.13030 or earlier
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Verify assp user account existsRun `id assp` or check /etc/passwd for the assp user entryAffected if The assp user account exists on the system
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Check write permissions on /usr/share/assp/ directoryRun `ls -la /usr/share/assp/` and `ls -ld /usr/share/assp/` to examine directory and file permissionsAffected if The assp user or its group has write permission to /usr/share/assp/ or the assp.pl file itself
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Inspect assp.pl script for unauthorized modificationsCompare /usr/share/assp/assp.pl against the original distribution file or check file ownership and modification timestamps with `stat /usr/share/assp/assp.pl`Affected if The assp.pl file is owned by the assp user, has recent modification timestamps, or contains unexpected content
A system is affected if it runs mail-filter/assp version 1.9.8.13030 or earlier and the assp user account has write access to /usr/share/assp/ where a trojaned assp.pl could be planted.
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 dataRestrict or disable the assp user account's ability to write to /usr/share/assp/ directory, or upgrade to a patched version of the assp package if available.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,880.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-16659 — 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-2017-16659 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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