CVE-2017-18226
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 · uneditedThe Gentoo net-im/jabberd2 package through 2.6.1 sets the ownership of /var/run/jabber to the jabber account, which might allow local users to kill arbitrary processes by leveraging access to this account for PID file modification before a root script executes a "kill -TERM `cat /var/run/jabber/filename.pid`" command.
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 confidenceThe Gentoo net-im/jabberd2 package through version 2.6.1 sets ownership of /var/run/jabber to the jabber account. This allows any local user with access to the jabber account to modify PID files in that directory before a root script executes 'kill -TERM `cat /var/run/jabber/filename.pid`', potentially causing arbitrary process termination.
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<= 2.6.1CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 jabberd2 is installedRun 'equery y net-im/jabberd2' or check installed packages with your package manager (e.g., 'emerge -pva net-im/jabberd2' on Gentoo)Affected if jabberd2 is not installed or the installed version is newer than 2.6.1, then not affected by this CVE
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Determine the installed jabberd2 versionRun 'emerge -pv net-im/jabberd2' or 'qlist -Iv net-im/jabberd2' to see the exact version installedAffected if The installed version is 2.6.1 or lower, the system may be affected
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Verify /var/run/jabber directory existsRun 'ls -la /var/run/jabber' to check if the directory existsAffected if The directory does not exist, the vulnerability does not apply in this specific form
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Inspect ownership and permissions of /var/run/jabberRun 'ls -lad /var/run/jabber' to see owner, group, and permission bits (e.g., chmod/chown output)Affected if The directory is owned by the jabber user, or is world-writable (permissions include 'o+w'), or is group-writable for a group that includes non-privileged users, then a local user with access to the jabber account can modify PID files and trigger arbitrary process termination
A user is affected if jabberd2 version 2.6.1 or lower is installed and the /var/run/jabber directory is owned by the jabber user or writable by non-privileged local users.
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 dataRestrict write access to /var/run/jabber by changing directory permissions or ownership, or modify root scripts to validate PID file ownership/permissions before executing kill commands.
- Consultation2.0 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 $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-18226 — 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-2017-18226 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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