CVE-2017-2620
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 · uneditedQuick emulator (QEMU) before 2.8 built with the Cirrus CLGD 54xx VGA Emulator support is vulnerable to an out-of-bounds access issue. The issue could occur while copying VGA data in cirrus_bitblt_cputovideo. A privileged user inside guest could use this flaw to crash the QEMU process OR potentially execute arbitrary code on host with privileges of the QEMU process.
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 analysisThe program writes past the bounds of a buffer, overwriting adjacent memory an attacker can turn to their advantage. Crafted input can overwrite control data and redirect execution. Remediation is validating every index and length before a write, plus modern memory-safety mitigations.
General guidance for the out-of-bounds write class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
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= 6.0.2= 6.2.0= 6.5= 7.0= 7.1= 5.0= 6.0= 7.0= 8= 9= 10= 7.0= 6.0= 7.0= 6.0= 7.0= 7.3= 7.4= 7.3= 7.4= 7.5= 6.0= 7.0CVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 · scopedUpgrade to QEMU 2.8.0 or later (or apply vendor-supplied security errata that includes the QEMU 2.8+ fix for this vulnerability)
- 1. Identify the QEMU version currently in use: Run `rpm -q qemu-kvm` or `qemu-system-x86_64 --version` to confirm the vulnerable version.
- 2. For Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems: Apply the Red Hat Security Advisory RHSA-2017:0293 or subsequent errata that addresses CVE-2017-2620. Run `yum update qemu-kvm` or `yum update qemu-kvm-rhev` to apply the fix.
- 3. For Debian systems: Update the qemu package by running `apt-get update && apt-get install qemu-kvm` or `apt-get upgrade` to obtain a version containing the fix.
- 4. For XenServer: Apply the appropriate XenServer security patch that includes the QEMU 2.8+ update, or upgrade to XenServer 7.0 or later which contains the fixed QEMU version.
- 5. For OpenStack: Apply the relevant security errata for your OpenStack version, or upgrade to a newer OpenStack release that includes QEMU 2.8 or later.
- 6. After updating, restart the QEMU processes or the virtual machines to ensure the patched version is loaded.
- 7. Verify the fix by checking the QEMU version: `rpm -q qemu-kvm` and confirm it is version 2.8.0 or higher, or check for the specific security advisory applied.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-2620 — 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 sources- lists.gnu.org
- lists.gnu.org
- rhn.redhat.com
- rhn.redhat.com
- rhn.redhat.com
- rhn.redhat.com
- rhn.redhat.com
- rhn.redhat.com
- rhn.redhat.com
- rhn.redhat.com
- rhn.redhat.com
- rhn.redhat.com
- rhn.redhat.com
- rhn.redhat.com
- www.openwall.com
- www.securityfocus.com
- www.securitytracker.com
- bugzilla.redhat.com
- lists.debian.org
- security.gentoo.org
- security.gentoo.org
- support.citrix.com
- xenbits.xen.org
- lists.debian.org
- nvd.nist.gov
Practitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-2620 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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