CVE-2017-17532
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 · uneditedexamples/framework/news/news3.py in Kiwi 1.9.22 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.
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 confidenceThe examples/framework/news/news3.py in Kiwi TCMS 1.9.22 uses the BROWSER environment variable without validation when launching a browser, allowing remote attackers to inject arbitrary arguments via a crafted URL through the environment variable.
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= 1.9.22CVSS 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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Identify installed Kiwi TCMS versionRun 'pip show kiwi' or check the package metadata to determine the exact version number installed in your environmentAffected if Version is exactly 1.9.22
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Locate the vulnerable news3.py scriptSearch for the file examples/framework/news/news3.py within the Kiwi TCMS installation directory or source treeAffected if The file exists in the installation
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Inspect BROWSER environment variable usage in news3.pyOpen the news3.py file and locate the code that reads the BROWSER environment variable and uses it to launch a browser without validationAffected if The code uses os.environ.get('BROWSER') or similar without sanitization before passing to subprocess or browser launch
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Check if the vulnerable script is accessible or executableVerify if the examples/framework/news/ directory is accessible within the web server's document root or if news3.py can be invoked via web requestAffected if The script is exposed via web interface or accessible to untrusted users who can control the BROWSER environment variable
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Verify BROWSER environment variable can be controlledExamine the deployment configuration to determine whether the BROWSER environment variable can be set by remote users or is inherited from web server processAffected if The BROWSER variable is not hardcoded and can be influenced by an attacker
You are affected if Kiwi TCMS version is exactly 1.9.22 AND the examples/framework/news/news3.py script is accessible while the BROWSER environment variable can be controlled by remote attackers to inject arbitrary 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 dataImplement strict validation of the BROWSER environment variable before use, or use a whitelist of allowed browser commands to prevent argument injection.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-17532 — 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-2017-17532 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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