CVE-2017-3098
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 · uneditedAdobe Captivate versions 9 and earlier have a remote code execution vulnerability in the quiz reporting feature that could be abused to read and write arbitrary files to the server.
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 confidenceAdobe Captivate versions 9 and earlier contains a file read/write vulnerability in the quiz reporting feature that allows unauthenticated attackers to read and write arbitrary files on the server, potentially leading to 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<= 9.0CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/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 Adobe Captivate installationCheck if Adobe Captivate is installed on the system by looking for the application in Program Files (Windows) or Applications folder (Mac), or check the Windows Registry for Adobe Captivate entries under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe or HKCU\SOFTWARE\AdobeAffected if Adobe Captivate is installed and version is 9.0 or earlier
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Determine installed Captivate versionRight-click on the Captivate executable file (captivate.exe), select Properties, and check the Version tab. Alternatively, open Captivate and go to Help > About Adobe Captivate to view the exact version numberAffected if Version displayed is 9.0 or any version number below 9.0 (e.g., 8.0, 7.0, etc.)
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Verify quiz reporting feature configurationCheck the Captivate publish settings and quiz configuration files in the project directory for quiz reporting module settings. Look for configuration files related to quiz/survey reporting, typically found in the project folder or in the Captivate shared content directoryAffected if Quiz reporting feature is enabled or configured in Captivate projects
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Inspect quiz reporting server componentsIf Captivate was used to publish quizzes to a web server, check the published output directory for quiz reporting scripts (ASP, PHP, or ColdFusion files) that handle quiz data submissionAffected if Quiz reporting web components are present on a web server connected to Captivate
The environment is affected if Adobe Captivate version 9.0 or earlier is installed AND the quiz reporting feature is enabled or deployed to a web server, allowing unauthenticated file read/write access via the quiz reporting functionality.
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 dataUpdate Adobe Captivate to the latest patched version. If patching is not immediately possible, restrict network access to the quiz reporting functionality and implement web application firewall rules to block path traversal attempts.
- 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-2017-3098 — 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-2017-3098 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