NetbackupApplication · Veritas

CVE-2017-6403

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-03-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 8.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
An issue was discovered in Veritas NetBackup Before 8.0 and NetBackup Appliance Before 3.0. NetBackup Cloud Storage Service uses a hardcoded username and password.

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 confidence

The NetBackup Cloud Storage Service in Veritas NetBackup versions before 8.0 and NetBackup Appliance versions before 3.0 contains hardcoded credentials embedded directly in the software code. These static credentials cannot be changed by administrators, allowing anyone who discovers them to authenticate to the cloud storage service with administrative privileges.

MitigationUpgrade to NetBackup 8.0 or later, or NetBackup Appliance 3.0 or later to replace hardcoded credentials with proper credential management. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict network access to cloud storage service endpoints and implement additional authentication layers.

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
NetbackupApplication
Affected:<= 8.0
Netbackup ApplianceApplication
Affected:<= 3.0

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify NetBackup version
    Run the version command for NetBackup (such as nbversion, bpgetconfig, or consult the About dialog in the NetBackup Administration Console) to determine the installed NetBackup version.
    Affected if The installed version is 8.0 or earlier.
  2. Identify NetBackup Appliance version
    Check the appliance version through the appliance console, the support login page, or by consulting the appliance release notes and label.
    Affected if The installed appliance version is 3.0 or earlier.
  3. Confirm Cloud Storage Service is accessible
    Determine if the NetBackup Cloud Storage Service or cloud storage targets are configured and reachable on the network. Check for any cloud storage bucket configurations, cloud storage appliance entries, or cloud provider endpoints defined in the NetBackup environment.
    Affected if Cloud storage service endpoints are configured and network-accessible on the affected version.

The environment is affected if NetBackup version is 8.0 or earlier (or NetBackup Appliance 3.0 or earlier) AND the Cloud Storage Service feature is in use or accessible, because the hardcoded credentials exist in the software code of these vulnerable versions.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 8.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to NetBackup 8.0 or later, or NetBackup Appliance 3.0 or later to replace hardcoded credentials with proper credential management. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict network access to cloud storage service endpoints and implement additional authentication layers.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

NetBackup 8.0+ or NetBackup Appliance 3.0+

  1. 1. Identify the current NetBackup installation version by running: /usr/openv/bin/nbversion or checking the NetBackup Administration Console
  2. 2. For NetBackup: Upgrade to version 8.0 or later by obtaining the upgrade package from Veritas Support (https://www.veritas.com/support)
  3. 3. For NetBackup Appliance: Upgrade to version 3.0 or later through the Appliance Management Console or command line (sudo cpupgrade)
  4. 4. After upgrade, verify the Cloud Storage Service configuration no longer contains hardcoded credentials
  5. 5. Change any default credentials that may have been used and implement proper credential management
  6. 6. Restart NetBackup services after the upgrade: /usr/openv/bin/nbadmin or from the Administration Console
Caveat Review Veritas 8.0 release notes for any compatibility changes with cloud storage providers and backup policies before upgrading production systems

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Netbackup Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-6403 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data