CVE-2017-5341
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 · uneditedThe OTV parser in tcpdump before 4.9.0 has a buffer overflow in print-otv.c:otv_print().
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 buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the OTV (Overlay Transport Virtualization) parser in tcpdump versions before 4.9.0, located in the otv_print() function in print-otv.c. This memory corruption issue in parsing OTV protocol packets can lead to remote code execution with the privileges of the tcpdump 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<= 4.8.1CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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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Verify tcpdump is installedRun 'which tcpdump' or 'dpkg -l | grep tcpdump' (Debian) / 'rpm -qa | grep tcpdump' (RHEL) to confirm tcpdump is present on the systemAffected if tcpdump is not installed on the system, then this CVE does not apply
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Determine installed tcpdump versionRun 'tcpdump --version' and note the version number in the output (format typically shows 'tcpdump version x.x.x')Affected if The displayed version is 4.8.1 or lower - this indicates a potentially vulnerable version
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Identify OTV traffic exposureCheck if the system captures or analyzes network traffic that may contain OTV (Overlay Transport Virtualization) encapsulated packets. This is typically seen in Cisco ACI or数据中心 environments. Review any tcpdump capture scripts or monitoring configurations for OTV-related trafficAffected if The system processes or monitors OTV-encapsulated network traffic - the vulnerable otv_print() function would be invoked when parsing such packets
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Confirm version falls within affected rangeCompare the installed version (from step 2) against the affected range: versions <= 4.8.1 are vulnerable, version 4.9.0 and later include the fixAffected if Installed version is 4.8.1 or lower AND OTV traffic is being parsed - both conditions must be true for the vulnerability to be exploitable in your environment
You are affected if tcpdump version 4.8.1 or lower is installed AND your environment processes OTV-encapsulated network traffic that would trigger the otv_print() parser function.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade tcpdump to version 4.9.0 or later to obtain the patch for this vulnerability. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, restrict network access to systems sending OTV-encapsulated traffic and monitor for tcpdump crashes.
tcpdump 4.9.0 or later
- Check the current installed version of tcpdump using 'tcpdump --version' or 'rpm -q tcpdump' / 'dpkg -l tcpdump'
- Update the package repository metadata: 'apt-get update' (Debian/Ubuntu) or 'yum check-update' (RHEL/CentOS)
- Upgrade tcpdump using the package manager: 'apt-get install tcpdump' (Debian/Ubuntu), 'yum update tcpdump' (RHEL/CentOS), or 'emerge --update net-analyzer/tcpdump' (Gentoo)
- Verify the installation was successful by checking the version: 'tcpdump --version'
- Ensure the version is 4.9.0 or later which contains the fix for the OTV buffer overflow
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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-2017-5341 — 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-2017-5341 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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