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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2017-17845

HIGH · 7.3 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-12-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.9.9 or later.
See remediation →
82/100
Remediation priority · High
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
An issue was discovered in Enigmail before 1.9.9. Improper Random Secret Generation occurs because Math.Random() is used by pretty Easy privacy (pEp), aka TBE-01-001.

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 confidence

Enigmail before version 1.9.9 uses JavaScript's Math.random() for generating cryptographic secrets. Math.random() is a predictable pseudo-random number generator unsuitable for security-sensitive operations, as attackers can potentially reconstruct the generated secrets by predicting the PRNG output.

MitigationUpdate Enigmail to version 1.9.9 or later, which replaces Math.random() with a cryptographically secure random number generator (CSPRNG) for secret generation.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0= 9.0
EnigmailApplication
Affected:< 1.9.9

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
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

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. Verify Enigmail is installed
    In Thunderbird, go to Add-ons > Extensions and look for Enigmail in the list. On Debian, run: dpkg -l | grep enigmail
    Affected if Enigmail is not listed or not installed, then this CVE does not apply
  2. Determine installed Enigmail version
    In Thunderbird Add-ons manager, click on Enigmail to view the version number. On Debian, run: dpkg -l | grep enigmail and look at the version column
    Affected if Version is less than 1.9.9 (for example 1.9.8, 1.9.7, etc.)
  3. Confirm OpenPGP operations are in use
    Check if you use Enigmail for encrypting emails, signing messages, or generating OpenPGP keys. Look for Enigmail preferences in Thunderbird under OpenPGP settings
    Affected if You actively use Enigmail for cryptographic operations (encrypt/sign/generate keys) and the version is below 1.9.9
  4. Check Debian package version on Linux systems
    Run: apt-cache policy enigmail on Debian 8 or 9 systems
    Affected if The installed version shown is less than 1.9.9-1

You are affected if Enigmail version below 1.9.9 is installed and you use it for OpenPGP cryptographic operations.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.9.9 or later
Fixed in 1.9.9
Interim mitigation

Update Enigmail to version 1.9.9 or later, which replaces Math.random() with a cryptographically secure random number generator (CSPRNG) for secret generation.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,800
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,480.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2017-17845 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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