CVE-2017-4985
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 · uneditedIn EMC VNX2 versions prior to OE for File 8.1.9.211 and VNX1 versions prior to OE for File 7.1.80.8, a local authenticated user may potentially escalate their privileges to root due to authorization checks not being performed on certain perl scripts. This may potentially be exploited by an attacker to run arbitrary commands as root on the targeted VNX Control Station system.
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 confidenceEMC VNX2 (prior to OE for File 8.1.9.211) and VNX1 (prior to OE for File 7.1.80.8) contain perl scripts that lack proper authorization checks, allowing any authenticated local user to execute arbitrary commands with root privileges on the Control Station.
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 dataall versionsall versionsCVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 the VNX modelRun 'naviseccli -h localhost getagent' or check the system serial number/model via the management interface to confirm whether the system is VNX1 or VNX2.Affected if The system is not a VNX1 or VNX2 device.
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Check OE for File version on VNX2Run 'naviseccli -h localhost getversion -svc' or access the Control Station via SSH and run 'version' to retrieve the OE for File version. Look for the version number in the format 8.x.x.xxx.Affected if The OE for File version is below 8.1.9.211 on a VNX2.
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Check OE for File version on VNX1Run 'naviseccli -h localhost getversion -svc' or access the Control Station via SSH and run 'version' to retrieve the OE for File version.Affected if The OE for File version is below 7.1.80.8 on a VNX1.
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Confirm the system is a Control StationVerify this is the Control Station (not a data mover) by checking 'uname -a' output for 'celsius' or 'navisphere' identifiers, or via 'naviseccli -h localhost getall' showing Control Station properties.Affected if The system is a data mover rather than the Control Station, as the vulnerability specifically affects the Control Station.
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Verify local user existenceCheck for local user accounts on the Control Station by examining /etc/passwd or using 'userlist' command. The flaw allows any authenticated local user to escalate privileges.Affected if Local user accounts exist on the Control Station (any local user can exploit this vulnerability).
A system is affected if it is a VNX1 or VNX2 Control Station running OE for File versions prior to 7.1.80.8 (VNX1) or 8.1.9.211 (VNX2), and local user authentication is enabled.
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 dataUpgrade VNX2 to OE for File 8.1.9.211 or later, and VNX1 to OE for File 7.1.80.8 or later to obtain the patched perl scripts with proper authorization enforcement.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-4985 — 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-2017-4985 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
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