CVE-2017-5483
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 SNMP parser in tcpdump before 4.9.0 has a buffer overflow in print-snmp.c:asn1_parse().
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 SNMP parser (print-snmp.c:asn1_parse()) of tcpdump versions prior to 4.9.0. The flaw allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or potentially execute arbitrary code via crafted SNMP packets.
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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Identify installed tcpdump versionRun 'tcpdump --version' or 'tcpdump -V' to display the version numberAffected if Version displayed is 4.8.1 or earlier (any version below 4.9.0)
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Confirm tcpdump binary presenceCheck if tcpdump is installed using 'which tcpdump' or 'dpkg -l | grep tcpdump' (Debian) or 'rpm -qa | grep tcpdump' (RHEL)Affected if tcpdump is installed and the package version is <= 4.8.1
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Determine if SNMP parsing is possibleReview tcpdump capture commands or scripts that invoke tcpdump; look for SNMP-related capture filters (e.g., 'snmp', 'udp port 161', 'udp port 162') or packets being monitored on SNMP portsAffected if tcpdump is configured to capture or parse SNMP packets (UDP ports 161/162) or the system processes SNMP traffic
The environment is affected if tcpdump version 4.8.1 or earlier is installed AND the tool is or may be used to process SNMP traffic, as the buffer overflow in the SNMP parser (print-snmp.c:asn1_parse) is triggered when crafted SNMP packets are encountered.
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. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict network access to systems running tcpdump and avoid processing untrusted SNMP traffic.
tcpdump 4.9.0 or later
- Check the current installed tcpdump version using: tcpdump --version or dpkg -l | grep tcpdump
- Update your package repository metadata: apt-get update (Debian/Ubuntu) or yum check-update (RHEL/CentOS)
- Upgrade tcpdump to the latest available version: apt-get install tcpdump (Debian/Ubuntu) or yum update tcpdump (RHEL/CentOS)
- Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version: tcpdump --version | head -1
- Confirm the version is 4.9.0 or later which contains the SNMP parser fix
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
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-5483 — 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-2017-5483 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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