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Nexus Repository ManagerApplication · Sonatype

CVE-2017-17717

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-12-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.14.5 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Sonatype Nexus Repository Manager through 2.14.5 has weak password encryption with a hardcoded CMMDwoV value in the LDAP integration feature.

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 confidence

Nexus Repository Manager versions through 2.14.5 use weak password encryption in the LDAP integration feature, where passwords are encrypted using a hardcoded value 'CMMDwoV'. This allows any attacker who obtains the encrypted credentials to trivially decrypt them, enabling full authentication bypass against LDAP-authenticated users.

MitigationUpgrade Nexus Repository Manager to a version beyond 2.14.5. Additionally, rotate all LDAP credentials that may have been stored or transmitted through the affected system, as the hardcoded key compromise means these credentials should be considered exposed.

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
Nexus Repository ManagerApplication
Affected:<= 2.14.5

CVSS 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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Nexus Repository Manager version
    Log into the Nexus web interface and navigate to Administration > System > Licensing, or check the about page (typically at /nexus/about). Alternatively, check the version embedded in the nexus.war or the lib directory if you have filesystem access.
    Affected if The installed version number is 2.14.5 or lower (any version through 2.14.5 is affected).
  2. Determine if LDAP authentication is enabled
    In the Nexus web UI, go to Administration > Security > LDAP Configuration. Review whether an LDAP server connection is configured and whether LDAP authentication is active for user/logins.
    Affected if LDAP integration is configured and enabled; the vulnerability only applies when Nexus uses LDAP for authentication.
  3. Locate LDAP configuration and stored credentials
    Access the Nexus configuration files on the server (typically in sonatype-work/nexus/conf or similar), and look for ldap.xml or security-configuration.xml files that contain LDAP connection settings and stored credentials.
    Affected if Encrypted LDAP passwords exist in configuration files; these credentials are encrypted using the weak method with hardcoded key 'CMMDwoV'.
  4. Verify weak encryption implementation
    If you have access to the Nexus application files or can examine the configuration XML, look for the encryption routine used for LDAP passwords - the vulnerable code uses a simple transformation with the hardcoded value 'CMMDwoV' as the encryption key.
    Affected if The LDAP password encryption uses the hardcoded key 'CMMDwoV' instead of a unique, system-generated key.

A user is affected if their Nexus installation is version 2.14.5 or lower AND has LDAP authentication enabled with stored credentials, because those credentials are trivially decryptable using the known hardcoded key.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.14.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Nexus Repository Manager to a version beyond 2.14.5. Additionally, rotate all LDAP credentials that may have been stored or transmitted through the affected system, as the hardcoded key compromise means these credentials should be considered exposed.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Nexus Repository Manager 2.14.6 or later 2.x stable release

  1. 1. Back up your current Nexus Repository Manager configuration and database
  2. 2. Verify current installed version (help > about)
  3. 3. Download Nexus Repository Manager 2.14.6 or latest 2.x stable release from Sonatype
  4. 4. Stop the Nexus service
  5. 5. Install the upgrade following standard upgrade procedures
  6. 6. Verify LDAP integration continues to function correctly after upgrade
  7. 7. Consider rotating LDAP service account passwords as a precautionary measure due to the hardcoded key exposure
Caveat Likely minimal; upgrades within 2.x branch typically preserve configuration

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Nexus Repository Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,980
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-17717 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data