Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2017-2295
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 · uneditedVersions of Puppet prior to 4.10.1 will deserialize data off the wire (from the agent to the server, in this case) with a attacker-specified format. This could be used to force YAML deserialization in an unsafe manner, which would lead to remote code execution. This change constrains the format of data on the wire to PSON or safely decoded YAML.
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 confidencePuppet versions prior to 4.10.1 accept attacker-specified serialization formats from agents when communicating to the server. This unsafe deserialization of data on the wire (agent-to-server) can be exploited to trigger unsafe YAML deserialization, leading to arbitrary 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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 8.0<= 4.10.0CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
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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Identify installed Puppet versionRun 'puppet --version' on the system to determine the version numberAffected if The version is 4.10.0 or lower (prior to 4.10.1)
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Determine if Puppet Server component is runningCheck if the 'puppetserver' service is active using 'systemctl status puppetserver' or check for process 'java.*puppetserver' runningAffected if Puppet Server is running and the version in step 1 is <= 4.10.0
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Verify Puppet Master service statusIf not using puppetserver, check for 'puppetmaster' service via 'systemctl status puppetmaster' or process list for 'puppet master'Affected if Puppet Master service is running with Puppet version <= 4.10.0
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Check if agent-to-server communication is enabledExamine /etc/puppet/puppet.conf or /etc/puppetlabs/puppet/puppet.conf for 'server' settings and verify port 8140 is listening via 'ss -tlnp | grep 8140'Affected if The system acts as a Puppet Server/Master accepting agent connections on port 8140 and runs a vulnerable version
You are affected if you run Puppet Server or Puppet Master version 4.10.0 or lower that accepts agent connections on port 8140, as this allows unsafe deserialization from agents.
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 dataUpgrade Puppet to version 4.10.1 or later, which enforces safe PSON or safely decoded YAML on the wire protocol between agents and server.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-2295 — 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-2017-2295 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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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.
- 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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