CVE-2017-4999
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 · uneditedEMC RSA Archer 5.4.1.3, 5.5.3.1, 5.5.2.3, 5.5.2, 5.5.1.3.1, 5.5.1.1 is affected by an authorization bypass through user-controlled key vulnerability in Discussion Forum Messages. A remote low privileged attacker may potentially exploit this vulnerability to elevate their privileges and view other users' discussion forum messages.
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 RSA Archer versions 5.4.1.3 through 5.5.3.1 contain an authorization bypass vulnerability in the Discussion Forum Messages functionality. The vulnerability stems from improper validation of user-controlled keys that allows a low-privileged remote attacker to access discussion forum messages belonging to other users, effectively achieving horizontal privilege escalation.
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= 5.4.1.3= 5.5.1.1= 5.5.1.3.1= 5.5.2= 5.5.2.3= 5.5.3.1CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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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Verify RSA Archer versionLocate the installed version through the RSA Archer About page, help menu, or administrative interface. Compare the installed version number against the affected range of 5.4.1.3 through 5.5.3.1.Affected if The installed version falls within 5.4.1.3 to 5.5.3.1 inclusive.
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Confirm Discussion Forum module is activeCheck whether the Discussion Forum functionality is enabled in the RSA Archer environment. This may be visible in the module configuration, system settings, or as an accessible feature in the user interface.Affected if The Discussion Forum module is enabled and accessible to users.
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Review access controls on discussion forum messagesInspect the access control configuration for the Discussion Forum Messages feature. Verify whether the system properly validates user-controlled keys when retrieving messages.Affected if The system does not enforce proper validation on user-controlled keys for message retrieval, allowing cross-user message access.
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Examine logs for unauthorized message accessReview application and audit logs for evidence of low-privileged users accessing discussion forum messages belonging to other users. Look for anomalous read operations on messages outside their expected scope.Affected if Logs show low-privileged accounts accessing messages from other user accounts.
If the installed RSA Archer version is between 5.4.1.3 and 5.5.3.1 and the Discussion Forum module is enabled, the environment is vulnerable to horizontal privilege escalation via unauthorized message access.
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 dataApply vendor-supplied patches for RSA Archer (versions 5.4.1.3, 5.5.3.1, 5.5.2.3, 5.5.2, 5.5.1.3.1, 5.5.1.1). If patches are unavailable, implement strict access control validation on the discussion forum message retrieval endpoint and consider temporarily restricting discussion forum access for low-privileged users.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-4999 — 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-2017-4999 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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