Xltek NeuroworksApplication · Natus

CVE-2017-2861

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-04-05
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
An exploitable Denial of Service vulnerability exists in the use of a return value in the NewProducerStream command in Natus Xltek NeuroWorks 8. A specially crafted network packet can cause an out of bounds read resulting in a denial of service. 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 · moderate confidence

A denial of service vulnerability exists in Natus Xltek NeuroWorks 8's NewProducerStream command where improper handling of a return value causes an out-of-bounds read when processing specially crafted network packets. An attacker can send a malicious packet to trigger this vulnerability, causing the application to crash.

MitigationApply vendor-provided patches for NeuroWorks 8; if unavailable, implement network segmentation and firewall rules to restrict unauthorized access to the NeuroWorks service port.

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
Xltek NeuroworksApplication
Affected:= 8

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm NeuroWorks 8 is installed
    Look for the Natus Xltek NeuroWorks 8 application on the system, typically installed in C:\Program Files\Natus\ or check Windows Programs and Features for 'Natus Xltek NeuroWorks 8'
    Affected if NeuroWorks 8 is present on the system
  2. Verify exact version is 8
    Right-click the NeuroWorks executable, select Properties, and check the File Version field, or run 'wmic product get name,version' if installed as Windows software
    Affected if Version is exactly 8.x (specifically version 8)
  3. Check if NeuroWorks service is network-exposed
    Run 'netstat -an | findstr LISTENING' and look for ports associated with NeuroWorks (typically TCP ports in the 8000-9000 range), or check firewall rules with 'netsh advfirewall firewall show rule name=all'
    Affected if The NeuroWorks service port is listening on an accessible network interface (0.0.0.0 or external IP)
  4. Review system event logs for crashes
    Open Event Viewer, navigate to Windows Logs > Application, and look for Error or Crash events from NeuroWorks or natus related processes around the time of suspected attack
    Affected if Multiple application crash events are logged with faulting module related to network packet processing

You are affected if NeuroWorks version 8 is running and its network service port is accessible to untrusted network actors, as the vulnerability is triggered by malicious packets on the NewProducerStream command.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor-provided patches for NeuroWorks 8; if unavailable, implement network segmentation and firewall rules to restrict unauthorized access to the NeuroWorks service port.

Fix this in Xltek Neuroworks Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2017-2861 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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