CVE-2017-5229
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 · uneditedAll editions of Rapid7 Metasploit prior to version 4.13.0-2017020701 contain a directory traversal vulnerability in the Meterpreter extapi Clipboard.parse_dump() function. By using a specially-crafted build of Meterpreter, it is possible to write to an arbitrary directory on the Metasploit console with the permissions of the running Metasploit instance.
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 confidenceA directory traversal vulnerability exists in the Meterpreter extapi Clipboard.parse_dump() function in Rapid7 Metasploit versions prior to 4.13.0-2017020701. A specially-crafted Meterpreter payload can write files to arbitrary directories on the Metasploit console host with the privileges of the running Metasploit process.
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<= 4.13.19CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
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 Metasploit installation versionRun 'msfconsole --version' or check the Metasploit package/version file in your installation directoryAffected if The reported version is 4.13.19 or lower
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Compare version against affected rangeVerify the installed version against the affected range: any version of Rapid7 Metasploit <= 4.13.19 is vulnerableAffected if Version is 4.13.19 or lower, or the version cannot be determined but is known to be prior to 4.13.0-2017020701
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Determine if Meterpreter with extapi is in useCheck for active Meterpreter sessions by running 'sessions -l' in msfconsole, then for each session run 'session -i <id> -e extapi' to confirm the extapi extension is loadedAffected if An active Meterpreter session exists with the extapi extension loaded and Clipboard.parse_dump() function accessible
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Audit for unauthorized file writesReview target system for files created in unexpected directories (outside of intended temp/user directories) that may indicate exploitation of the directory traversal flawAffected if Files exist in system directories (e.g., /, /etc, /usr, Windows system directories) that were not intentionally created by legitimate operations
You are affected if you are running Metasploit version 4.13.19 or lower AND have an active Meterpreter session using the extapi Clipboard functionality.
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 Metasploit to version 4.13.0-2017020701 or later to patch the directory traversal vulnerability in the Clipboard.parse_dump() function.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-5229 — 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-2017-5229 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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