CVE-2017-3962
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 · uneditedPassword recovery exploitation vulnerability in the non-certificate-based authentication mechanism in McAfee Network Security Management (NSM) before 8.2.7.42.2 allows attackers to crack user passwords via unsalted hashes.
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 confidenceMcAfee NSM versions before 8.2.7.42.2 contain a password recovery vulnerability where user credentials are stored or transmitted using unsalted cryptographic hashes. This allows attackers who obtain the password database to crack user passwords using rainbow tables or straightforward brute-force attacks, since the lack of salt means identical passwords produce identical hashes.
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< 8.2.7.42.2CVSS 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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Confirm McAfee NSM installationLocate the McAfee Network Security Manager installation directory, service, or running process on the system. Common locations include C:\Program Files\McAfee\Network Security Manager or /opt/mcafee/nsm/. Verify the nsm.exe or similar NSM process is running.Affected if McAfee Network Security Manager is installed and running on the system
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Determine installed NSM versionCheck the version of the installed McAfee NSM. This is typically found in the product UI under Help > About, in the installation directory metadata, or via the NSM service information. Compare the version number to 8.2.7.42.2.Affected if The installed version is lower than 8.2.7.42.2 (e.g., 8.2.7.30.0, 8.1.x, etc.)
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Inspect password storage mechanismIf running a vulnerable version, examine the NSM configuration files or database where user credentials are stored. Look for password fields and determine if they use salted hashes (random data appended before hashing) or unsalted fixed-length hash values.Affected if Password storage uses unsalted cryptographic hashes (identical passwords produce identical hash values, making them vulnerable to rainbow table attacks)
You are affected if McAfee Network Security Manager is installed and the version is below 8.2.7.42.2, meaning user passwords are stored using unsalted hashes rather than salted hashes.
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 · scoped8.2.7.42.2
Upgrade McAfee Network Security Management to version 8.2.7.42.2 or later. Until patched, enforce strong network access controls and monitor for unauthorized access to authentication mechanisms.
McAfee Network Security Manager 8.2.7.42.2 or later
- Obtain the McAfee Network Security Manager 8.2.7.42.2 or later update from the McAfee Knowledge Center (kc.mcafee.com) or your McAfee account
- Review the McAfee NSM upgrade documentation for your deployment type
- Backup the current NSM configuration and database before initiating the upgrade
- Apply the upgrade to all NSM management servers in your deployment
- Verify the upgrade completed successfully by checking the NSM version and confirming the management interface is accessible
- Test authentication functionality to verify the password hash vulnerability is resolved
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-3962 — 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-2017-3962 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