CVE-2017-5198
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 · uneditedSolarWinds LEM (aka SIEM) before 6.3.1 has an incorrect sudo configuration, which allows local users to obtain root access by editing /usr/local/contego/scripts/hostname.sh.
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 confidenceSolarWinds LEM before 6.3.1 contains a sudoers misconfiguration that permits local users to execute sudoedit or sudo on /usr/local/contego/scripts/hostname.sh. Since hostname.sh is executed with root privileges, an attacker can inject arbitrary commands into the script file to achieve local privilege escalation to root.
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< 6.3.1CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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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Verify SolarWinds LEM is installedLook for LEM installation directories such as /usr/local/contego/ or check for the 'contego' service/process on the systemAffected if The LEM software is not present on the system
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Check installed LEM versionInspect version files in /usr/local/contego/ or run: rpm -q swlex (or dpkg -l for Debian-based systems) to determine the installed versionAffected if The installed version is lower than 6.3.1 (e.g., 6.3.0, 6.2.x, etc.)
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Examine sudoers configuration for the vulnerable ruleRun: sudo -l -U <username> or view /etc/sudoers and /etc/sudoers.d/ for entries containing 'contego' or 'hostname.sh'Affected if The sudoers file contains a rule allowing sudoedit or sudo on /usr/local/contego/scripts/hostname.sh for unprivileged users
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Verify script file permissions and ownershipCheck file permissions with: ls -la /usr/local/contego/scripts/hostname.shAffected if The script exists and is writable by non-root users, allowing command injection
A system is affected if it runs SolarWinds LEM version below 6.3.1 AND the sudoers configuration permits unprivileged users to edit or execute the /usr/local/contego/scripts/hostname.sh script via sudo.
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 data6.3.1
Upgrade to SolarWinds LEM version 6.3.1 or later, or modify the sudo configuration to remove the overly permissive rule allowing unprivileged users to edit scripts in /usr/local/contego/scripts/.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 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-2017-5198 — 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-2017-5198 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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