CVE-2017-5170
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 · uneditedAn Uncontrolled Search Path Element issue was discovered in Moxa SoftNVR-IA Live Viewer, Version 3.30.3122 and prior versions. An uncontrolled search path element (DLL Hijacking) vulnerability has been identified. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker could rename a malicious DLL to meet the criteria of the application, and the application would not verify that the DLL is correct. The attacker needs to have administrative access to the default install location in order to plant the insecure DLL. Once loaded by the application, the DLL could run malicious code at the privilege level of the application.
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 confidenceMoxa SoftNVR-IA Live Viewer versions 3.30.3122 and prior contain an uncontrolled search path element vulnerability (DLL hijacking). The application does not verify DLL integrity before loading, allowing an attacker with administrative access to the default install location to plant a malicious DLL that executes at the application's privilege level.
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<= 3.3CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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 if SoftNVR-IA Live Viewer is installedCheck the Windows registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Moxa or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Moxa for SoftNVR entries, or look for the application in Add/Remove ProgramsAffected if The software is found on the system
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Determine the installed versionCheck the version information of the SoftNVR-IA Live Viewer executable (typically in C:\Program Files\Moxa\SoftNVR-IA or similar). Right-click the main executable, select Properties, and view the File Version fieldAffected if The version is 3.30.3122 or lower, or version 3.3 or lower
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Locate the installation directoryCheck the registry or file system for the default install path (commonly C:\Program Files\Moxa\SoftNVR-IA or C:\Program Files (x86)\Moxa\SoftNVR-IA)Affected if The application is installed in a default or accessible directory location
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Verify filesystem permissions on the install directoryRight-click the installation folder, select Properties, go to the Security tab, and check which users or groups have Write or Modify permissions. Use 'icacls <directory>' from command prompt for detailed permission listingAffected if Users other than Administrators or the SYSTEM account have Write or Modify access to the installation directory
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Inspect for unexpected DLLs in the application directoryList all DLL files in the installation directory and compare against known legitimate DLLs. Check for recently modified DLLs or DLLs with suspicious names (e.g., not standard Windows or Moxa DLLs)Affected if Unknown or recently added DLLs are present in the installation folder that are not part of the standard installation
The system is affected if Moxa SoftNVR-IA Live Viewer version 3.3 or lower is installed in a directory where non-administrative users have write access, allowing potential DLL hijacking.
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 dataRestrict filesystem permissions on the install directory to prevent unauthorized DLL placement, and implement DLL signature verification or secure DLL loading with explicit path validation to ensure only trusted libraries are loaded.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-5170 — 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-2017-5170 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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