SafariWeb browser · Apple
CVE-2017-17821
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 · uneditedWTF/wtf/FastBitVector.h in WebKit, as distributed in Safari Technology Preview Release 46, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (buffer overflow) or possibly have unspecified other impact because it calls the FastBitVectorWordOwner::resizeSlow function (in WTF/wtf/FastBitVector.cpp) for a purpose other than initializing a bitvector size, and resizeSlow mishandles cases where the old array length is greater than the new array length.
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 confidenceA buffer overflow vulnerability exists in WebKit's FastBitVector implementation where the resizeSlow function in WTF/wtf/FastBitVector.cpp mishandles resizing operations to a smaller size than the current array length. When FastBitVectorWordOwner::resizeSlow is called for purposes other than initial size initialization with a new size smaller than the old array length, it fails to properly manage memory, leading to buffer overflow that can cause denial of service or potentially remote code execution.
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
SafariWeb browser
= 46CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Safari versionOpen Safari, go to Safari > About Safari or navigate to safari://about/ to display the full version numberAffected if The displayed version number is exactly 46.x (any subversion of 46)
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Verify WebKit engine versionIn Safari, open Web Inspector ( Develop > Show Web Inspector ) or visit a page that displays user agent string to confirm WebKit versionAffected if WebKit version corresponds to Safari 46 build which contains the vulnerable FastBitVector.cpp implementation
You are affected if your installed Safari version is exactly 46, since the buffer overflow in the FastBitVector resizeSlow function only exists in that specific version.
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 dataApply the vendor patch for CVE-2017-17821 which corrects the resizeSlow function to properly handle cases where the new array length is less than the old array length, ensuring proper memory boundary checking during down-sizing operations.
Fix this in Safari
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,080.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-17821 — 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-2017-17821 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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