dbcve.org
McollectiveApplication · Puppet

CVE-2017-2292

CRITICAL · 9.0 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-06-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.10.3 or later.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
Versions of MCollective prior to 2.10.4 deserialized YAML from agents without calling safe_load, allowing the potential for arbitrary code execution on the server. The fix for this is to call YAML.safe_load on input. This has been tested in all Puppet-supplied MCollective plugins, but there is a chance that third-party plugins could rely on this insecure behavior.

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

MCollective versions prior to 2.10.4 deserialize YAML from agents without using YAML.safe_load, allowing arbitrary code execution through malicious YAML payloads. This is a classic unsafe deserialization vulnerability where the application trusts untrusted YAML input.

MitigationUpgrade MCollective to version 2.10.4 or later which implements YAML.safe_load. Audit and test all third-party MCollective plugins for similar unsafe YAML deserialization patterns.

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
McollectiveApplication
Affected:<= 2.10.3

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/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. Check MCollective version
    Run `mco --version` or `mcollectived --version` to determine the installed version. On RHEL/CentOS you can also run `rpm -q mcollective`. On Debian/Ubuntu run `dpkg -l mcollective`.
    Affected if The installed version is 2.10.3 or lower.
  2. Verify MCollective server is active
    Check if the MCollective daemon (mcollectived) is running using `ps aux | grep mcollectived` or `systemctl status mcollective`.
    Affected if The MCollective server daemon is running and processing requests from agents.
  3. Identify MCollective configuration files
    Locate the MCollective server configuration file, typically at `/etc/mcollective/server.cfg` or `/etc/puppetlabs/mcollective/server.cfg`. Review the `plugin.yaml` directory which contains agent definitions.
    Affected if YAML-based agent plugins are loaded from the plugin directory without additional validation.
  4. Audit third-party MCollective plugins
    Examine any custom or third-party MCollective agents in the plugin directory (such as `/usr/libexec/mcollective/mcollective/` or `/opt/puppetlabs/mcollective/plugins/mcollective/`). Look for YAML loading patterns using `YAML.load` rather than `YAML.safe_load`.
    Affected if Any agent plugin uses unsafe YAML deserialization to process incoming data.

You are affected if MCollective version is 2.10.3 or lower and the server is actively processing agent requests, especially with third-party plugins that may use unsafe YAML.load calls.

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 2.10.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade MCollective to version 2.10.4 or later which implements YAML.safe_load. Audit and test all third-party MCollective plugins for similar unsafe YAML deserialization patterns.

Recommended fix High confidence

MCollective 2.10.4 or later

  1. Upgrade MCollective to version 2.10.4 or later using your package manager or installation method
  2. After upgrading, test all MCollective agents and plugins to ensure compatibility
  3. Review any third-party MCollective plugins as they may rely on the previously insecure YAML deserialization behavior
  4. Verify that the YAML.safe_load fix is properly applied by checking agent input handling
Caveat Third-party plugins that depend on unsafe YAML deserialization may break and require updates from their maintainers

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

Fix this in Mcollective Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,440
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,504.

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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-2017-2292 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