CVE-2017-16679
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 · uneditedURL redirection vulnerability in SAP's Startup Service, SAP KERNEL 32 NUC, SAP KERNEL 32 Unicode, SAP KERNEL 64 NUC, SAP KERNEL 64 Unicode 7.21, 7.21EXT, 7.22 and 7.22EXT; SAP KERNEL 7.21, 7.22, 7.45, 7.49 and 7.52, that allows an attacker to redirect users to a malicious site.
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 confidenceOpen redirect vulnerability in SAP Startup Service across multiple kernel versions (7.21-7.52). The application accepts user-controlled input (likely a URL parameter) and uses it in a redirect without proper validation, allowing attackers to craft malicious links that appear to originate from the legitimate SAP domain.
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= 7.21= 7.21ext= 7.22= 7.22ext= 7.45= 7.49= 7.52CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
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 SAP Kernel versionRun the command 'sapkernel -v' or check the SAP kernel executable version information. On Windows, examine the file properties of the sapstart.exe or sapstartsrv.exe binary. On UNIX, use 'strings' on the binary or check /usr/sap/kernel/ for kernel executables.Affected if The installed kernel version matches 7.21, 7.21ext, 7.22, 7.22ext, 7.45, 7.49, or 7.52
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Locate the SAP Startup Service executableSearch for sapstart.exe (Windows) or sapstartsrv (Unix) in the SAP kernel directory, typically under /usr/sap/kernel/<SID>/exe/ or the Windows equivalent at C:\usr\sap\kernel\<SID>\exe\Affected if The SAP Startup Service binary exists and corresponds to an affected kernel version from step 1
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Check if the Startup Service is network-accessibleVerify if port 5XX13 (default SAPSTART port) is open and listening. Use netstat -an | grep 5XX13 or nmap scan of the SAP server. Confirm the service responds to HTTP/HTTPS requests.Affected if The SAP Startup Service is exposed on a network accessible port and the kernel version is affected
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Inspect redirect parameter handling in the serviceReview the SAP Startup Service configuration files (default.cfg, startup_profile) for redirect or url parameters. Capture a sample request to the service and examine if user-supplied URL parameters influence redirect behavior without validation.Affected if The service accepts redirect parameters (such as url=, redirect=, or similar) and performs redirection without allowlist validation
A system is affected if it runs SAP Kernel versions 7.21 through 7.52 and the Startup Service is accessible with unvalidated redirect parameters present in the configuration or request handling.
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 dataImplement strict validation of redirect parameters using an allowlist of permitted domains/paths before performing any redirection. Consider using a fixed set of internal redirect targets rather than user-supplied URLs.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 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-2017-16679 — 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-2017-16679 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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