CVE-2017-17513
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 · uneditedTeX Live through 20170524 does not validate strings before launching the program specified by the BROWSER environment variable, which might allow remote attackers to conduct argument-injection attacks via a crafted URL, related to linked_scripts/context/stubs/unix/mtxrun, texmf-dist/scripts/context/stubs/mswin/mtxrun.lua, and texmf-dist/tex/luatex/lualibs/lualibs-os.lua.
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 confidenceTeX Live through version 20170524 does not validate or sanitize the BROWSER environment variable before using it to launch a browser program. This allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary arguments via a crafted URL through the BROWSER variable, affecting mtxrun (Unix), mtxrun.lua (Windows), and lualibs-os.lua components.
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<= 20170524CVSS 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
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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 if TeX Live is installedRun 'tlmgr --version' or look for TeX Live installation directories such as /usr/local/texlive or /opt/texliveAffected if TeX Live is present on the system
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Determine the TeX Live versionRun 'tlmgr --version' to obtain the version number, or check the release date in the TeX Live installation directoryAffected if The installed version is 20170524 or earlier (any version through 20170524)
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Verify the BROWSER environment variable is setRun 'echo $BROWSER' on Unix or check System Properties > Environment Variables on WindowsAffected if The BROWSER variable contains a value (especially one that includes arguments or special characters that could be injected)
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Locate affected componentsSearch for mtxrun, mtxrun.lua, or lualibs-os.lua files in the TeX Live installation directory (typically under texmf-dist/scripts/context/studio or texmf-dist/lua/lualibs)Affected if These scripts exist and are executable as part of the TeX Live installation
A user is affected if TeX Live version 20170524 or earlier is installed AND the BROWSER environment variable is set to any value that could be used to invoke a browser with injected arguments.
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 dataUpdate TeX Live to a version newer than 20170524, or implement strict validation of the BROWSER environment variable before executing any browser command to prevent argument injection.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-17513 — 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-2017-17513 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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