CVE-2017-3897
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 · uneditedA Code Injection vulnerability in the non-certificate-based authentication mechanism in McAfee Live Safe versions prior to 16.0.3 and McAfee Security Scan Plus (MSS+) versions prior to 3.11.599.3 allows network attackers to perform a malicious file execution via a HTTP backend-response.
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 confidenceCode injection vulnerability in McAfee Live Safe and Security Scan Plus allows remote attackers to inject malicious code through manipulated HTTP backend responses during the authentication process, enabling arbitrary file execution on affected systems.
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<= 16.0.2<= 3.11.599.2CVSS 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 installed McAfee productCheck Programs and Features or use command: Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*' | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like '*McAfee*'} | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersionAffected if Neither McAfee Live Safe nor McAfee Security Scan Plus is installed
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Determine McAfee Live Safe versionCheck registry: HKLM\Software\McAfee\LiveSafe or look for InstallPath and version info in the product directory, or right-click the Live Safe icon and select AboutAffected if Live Safe version is 16.0.2 or earlier
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Determine McAfee Security Scan Plus versionCheck registry: HKLM\Software\McAfee\SecurityScan or look in the product installation directory for version info, or right-click the Security Scan Plus icon and select AboutAffected if Security Scan Plus version is 3.11.599.2 or earlier
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Verify authentication module presenceConfirm the product's authentication component is present by checking for the SelfProtection folder or AuthFramework module in the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\McAfee\)Affected if Product is installed but the authentication module is completely missing (unlikely, indicates very old/corrupted install)
You are affected if either McAfee Live Safe version 16.0.2 or earlier, or McAfee Security Scan Plus version 3.11.599.2 or earlier is installed on your system.
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 · scopedUpdate McAfee Live Safe to version 16.0.3 or later, and McAfee Security Scan Plus to version 3.11.599.3 or later to remediate this code injection vulnerability.
Live Safe 16.0.3 | Security Scan Plus 3.11.599.3
- Identify the installed McAfee product (Live Safe or Security Scan Plus) and verify the current version
- For Live Safe: upgrade to version 16.0.3 or later
- For Security Scan Plus: upgrade to version 3.11.599.3 or later
- Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the product version
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation8.0 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 $4,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-3897 — 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-2017-3897 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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- 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