Photo StationApplication · Qnap

CVE-2017-20210

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-11-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
Photo Station 5.4.1 & 5.2.7 include the security fix for the vulnerability related to the XMR mining programs identified by internal research.

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

This vulnerability in QNAP Photo Station (versions prior to 5.4.1 and 5.2.7) allowed remote execution of XMR (Monero) cryptocurrency mining programs, indicating a critical remote code execution (RCE) flaw in the web application. The CVSS 9.8 score reflects an easily exploitable vulnerability enabling attackers to compromise affected systems for cryptojacking purposes.

MitigationUpgrade Photo Station to version 5.4.1 or 5.2.7 (or later) to apply the security patch. Verify that no unauthorized mining processes are running on affected systems.

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
Photo StationApplication
Affected:= 5.2.7= 5.4.1

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:3.1/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 Photo Station installation
    Access QNAP Admin Panel, navigate to Photo Station (or App Center > Photo Station) and view the version information displayed in the application details or about section
    Affected if Photo Station is installed on the QNAP device
  2. Confirm installed version
    Locate the version number displayed in the Photo Station interface. If accessing via command line, check /etc/config/qpkg/PhotoStation or use qpkgmanager command to query installed packages
    Affected if Version is below 5.2.7 or below 5.4.1 (both versions 5.2.x < 5.2.7 and 5.4.x < 5.4.1 are vulnerable)
  3. Inspect running processes for mining activity
    Via QNAP SSH or admin shell, run 'ps aux' or check the Task Manager in the web interface for unknown processes. Look for processes named xmrig, xmr-stak, or any process consuming high CPU while idle
    Affected if Processes matching cryptocurrency mining software are running
  4. Check for outbound mining pool connections
    Use 'netstat -an' or the QNAP Network Traffic analysis to identify connections to known mining pool ports (such as 3333, 5555, or uncommon high ports to suspicious IP ranges)
    Affected if The system has active connections to known Monero mining pool IP addresses or ports

A system is affected if Photo Station version is below 5.2.7 or below 5.4.1, or if cryptocurrency mining processes are detected running on the QNAP device.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Photo Station to version 5.4.1 or 5.2.7 (or later) to apply the security patch. Verify that no unauthorized mining processes are running on affected systems.

Fix this in Photo Station Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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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-2017-20210 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
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