CVE-2017-2853
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 · uneditedAn exploitable Code Execution vulnerability exists in the RequestForPatientInfoEEGfile functionality of Natus Xltek NeuroWorks 8. A specially crafted network packet can cause a stack buffer overflow resulting in arbitrary command execution. An attacker can send a malicious packet to trigger this vulnerability.
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 confidenceStack buffer overflow in the RequestForPatientInfoEEGfile functionality of Natus Xltek NeuroWorks 8 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via specially crafted network packets. The vulnerability requires no authentication and has critical CVSS score indicating complete system compromise potential.
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= 8CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify NeuroWorks installation and versionLocate the Natus Xltek NeuroWorks software installation on the system. Check the program version through the application's About dialog, installation directory metadata, or Windows registry entries under the Natus product keysAffected if Installed version is NeuroWorks 8 exactly
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Verify NeuroWorks network service is runningUse system utilities such as netstat, ss, or PowerShell Get-NetTCPConnection to enumerate listening network services. Identify if NeuroWorks is bound to network interfaces and listening on expected ports (NeuroWorks typically uses ports in the 2000-2100 range for EEG data transfer)Affected if NeuroWorks network services are running and listening on TCP/UDP ports
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Confirm network accessibility of NeuroWorks portsReview firewall rules, router configurations, and network segmentation to determine whether the NeuroWorks listening ports are accessible from network segments outside the trusted medical device networkAffected if NeuroWorks ports are exposed to untrusted networks or directly accessible from the internet
Environment is affected if Natus Xltek NeuroWorks version 8 is installed with its network services accessible to untrusted network segments, enabling remote unauthenticated attackers to send specially crafted packets to the RequestForPatientInfoEEGfile function.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply vendor patch from Natus immediately; until patch available, isolate affected systems on separate network segment and block external access to NeuroWorks ports via firewall to reduce attack surface.
- Contact Natus Medical directly to obtain the security patch for CVE-2017-2853
- Request CVE-2017-2853 specific patch from Natus Technical Support
- If no patch available, isolate affected systems on a restricted network segment
- Implement network segmentation to limit exposure to untrusted networks
- Block TCP/UDP ports used by NeuroWorks at the network perimeter
- Monitor for any unauthorized network activity targeting the NeuroWorks service
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $3,648.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-2853 — 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-2017-2853 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data