CVE-2017-2330
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 · uneditedA denial of service vulnerability in Juniper Networks NorthStar Controller Application prior to version 2.1.0 Service Pack 1 may allow an unauthenticated, local user, to create a fork bomb scenario, also known as a rabbit virus, or wabbit, which will create processes that replicate themselves, until all resources are consumed on the system, leading to a denial of service to the entire system until it is restarted. Continued attacks by an unauthenticated, local user, can lead to persistent denials of services.
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 confidenceA local unauthenticated user can exploit the Juniper Networks NorthStar Controller Application to create a fork bomb (wabbit virus) that spawns self-replicating processes, consuming all available system resources and causing denial of service to the entire system until restart.
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<= 2.1.0CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/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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Confirm NorthStar Controller is installedCheck for NorthStar Controller installation directories or installed packages. Common locations include /opt/juniper/northstar or check system package manager for northstar-controller packages.Affected if NorthStar Controller software is present on the system
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Identify installed NorthStar versionRun command to retrieve NorthStar Controller version, such as checking the application binary version or reading version files in the installation directory (e.g., rpm -qi or looking for a version file in the installation path).Affected if The installed version is 2.1.0 or earlier (any version <= 2.1.0)
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Verify NorthStar service is runningCheck if the NorthStar Controller service process is active using commands like 'ps aux | grep northstar' or 'systemctl status northstar-controller'.Affected if The NorthStar Controller service is running and accessible to local users
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Confirm local unauthenticated access is possibleVerify that the vulnerability allows any local user (without authentication) to interact with the NorthStar Controller application to trigger process creation.Affected if Local unauthenticated users can interact with the NorthStar Controller service
The environment is affected if Juniper NorthStar Controller version 2.1.0 or earlier is installed and running, allowing any local unauthenticated user to trigger the fork bomb vulnerability.
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 Juniper NorthStar Controller Application to version 2.1.0 Service Pack 1 or later to prevent unauthenticated local users from creating fork bomb scenarios.
- 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-2017-2330 — 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-2017-2330 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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- 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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