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BotanApplication · Botan Project

CVE-2017-7252

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.1.0 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
bcrypt password hashing in Botan before 2.1.0 does not correctly handle passwords with a length between 57 and 72 characters, which makes it easier for attackers to determine the cleartext 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 Botan cryptographic library before version 2.1.0 contains a flaw in its bcrypt password hashing implementation where passwords with lengths between 57 and 72 characters are not correctly processed, resulting in weakened hash output that could facilitate plaintext password recovery by attackers.

MitigationUpgrade Botan to version 2.1.0 or later to obtain the corrected bcrypt implementation, and rehash any affected user passwords stored using the vulnerable library version.

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
BotanApplication
Affected:>= 1.11.0, < 2.1.0

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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 installed Botan library version
    Check the Botan library version by querying the installed package, examining the library file metadata, or checking version headers if building from source. Common methods: dpkg -l | grep botan, rpm -qi botan, or examine libbotan version info.
    Affected if The installed version falls within >= 1.11.0 and < 2.1.0
  2. Confirm bcrypt is in use
    Search your codebase, configuration files, or application dependencies for bcrypt password hashing implementation provided by Botan. Look for bcrypt-related function calls or modules.
    Affected if Bcrypt hashing using Botan library is actively being used for password storage
  3. Inspect stored password hashes
    Examine your user password storage (database, file, or configuration) to identify bcrypt hashes generated by the Botan bcrypt implementation.
    Affected if Bcrypt password hashes created by the vulnerable Botan version exist in your system
  4. Identify affected password lengths
    Review stored bcrypt hashes or password policies to determine if any user passwords have lengths between 57 and 72 characters, which is the problematic range for this vulnerability.
    Affected if Any stored passwords are 57 to 72 characters long and were hashed using the vulnerable Botan bcrypt implementation

Your environment is affected if you have Botan library versions 1.11.0 through 2.0.x installed and actively using bcrypt for password hashing, particularly if any user passwords fall within the 57-72 character length range.

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 2.1.0 or later
Fixed in 2.1.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Botan to version 2.1.0 or later to obtain the corrected bcrypt implementation, and rehash any affected user passwords stored using the vulnerable library version.

Recommended fix High confidence

Botan 2.1.0 or later

  1. 1. Identify the current version of Botan library in use by checking project dependencies or the installed botan version
  2. 2. If the version is >= 1.11.0 and < 2.1.0, the system is vulnerable
  3. 3. Plan the upgrade to Botan 2.1.0 or later, reviewing the Botan 2.x migration guide for API changes
  4. 4. Backup the current project configuration and any custom botan settings
  5. 5. Update the dependency specification to require Botan >= 2.1.0
  6. 6. Rebuild and test the application to ensure compatibility with the new Botan version
  7. 7. Verify the bcrypt implementation now correctly handles passwords of all lengths, including 57-72 characters
Caveat Botan 2.x introduced significant API changes from 1.x; code rewrites may be required for functions that changed signature or behavior

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

Fix this in Botan Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,380
Get the upgrade done

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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-2017-7252 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