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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2017-3138

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-01-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
named contains a feature which allows operators to issue commands to a running server by communicating with the server process over a control channel, using a utility program such as rndc. A regression introduced in a recent feature change has created a situation under which some versions of named can be caused to exit with a REQUIRE assertion failure if they are sent a null command string. Affects BIND 9.9.9->9.9.9-P7, 9.9.10b1->9.9.10rc2, 9.10.4->9.10.4-P7, 9.10.5b1->9.10.5rc2, 9.11.0->9.11.0-P4, 9.11.1b1->9.11.1rc2, 9.9.9-S1->9.9.9-S9.

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 confidence

A regression in BIND 9's control channel handling causes the named DNS server to crash with a REQUIRE assertion failure when receiving a null (empty) command string via the control channel utility (rndc). This results in denial of service as the server exits unexpectedly.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of BIND 9 beyond the affected version ranges, or restrict access to the control channel (rndc) to prevent unauthenticated or malformed command injection.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0
BindApplication
Affected:= 9.9.9= 9.9.10= 9.10.4= 9.10.5= 9.11.0= 9.11.1
Data Ontap EdgeWeb browser
Affected:all versions
Element SoftwareApplication
Affected:all versions
Oncommand BalanceApplication
Affected:all versions

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

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/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. Check BIND 9 version
    Run 'named -v' or 'named -V' to display the installed BIND version
    Affected if The version shown matches any of these: 9.9.9, 9.9.10, 9.10.4, 9.10.5, 9.11.0, 9.11.1
  2. Verify control channel configuration
    Examine the named configuration file (commonly /etc/named.conf or /etc/bind/named.conf) for a 'controls' section that enables rndc
    Affected if A 'controls' section exists and is not commented out, enabling the control channel
  3. Test rndc connectivity
    Run 'rndc status' and observe if the command executes successfully or returns an error
    Affected if The command executes without errors, indicating the control channel is active and reachable
  4. Confirm Debian version on Debian systems
    On Debian systems, check /etc/debian_version or run 'lsb_release -r' to confirm Debian 8.0
    Affected if The system runs Debian 8.0 and BIND 9 is installed

You are affected if you are running any of the affected BIND 9 versions (9.9.9, 9.9.10, 9.10.4, 9.10.5, 9.11.0, 9.11.1) and the control channel (rndc) is enabled and accessible on your system.

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

Upgrade to a patched version of BIND 9 beyond the affected version ranges, or restrict access to the control channel (rndc) to prevent unauthenticated or malformed command injection.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2017-3138 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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