CVE-2017-7438
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 · uneditedNetIQ Privileged Account Manager before 3.1 Patch Update 3 allowed cross site scripting attacks via javascript DOM modification using the supplied cookie parameter.
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 confidenceNetIQ Privileged Account Manager before version 3.1 Patch Update 3 is vulnerable to DOM-based cross-site scripting (XSS). The vulnerability exists because the application uses a cookie parameter value in JavaScript DOM manipulation without proper sanitization or encoding, allowing an attacker to inject malicious JavaScript code that executes in the context of a user's browser session.
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<= 3.1= 3.1CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify NetIQ PAM versionLocate the installed version of NetIQ Privileged Account Manager by checking the product's about page, version file, or using the administration console to view build informationAffected if The version is 3.1 or any version lower than 3.1 without Patch Update 3 applied
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Confirm patch levelCheck if Patch Update 3 has been applied by reviewing the installed patches or update history within the NetIQ PAM administration interfaceAffected if Patch Update 3 is not listed as installed or the patch level cannot be verified as TU3 or later
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Verify web interface accessibilityDetermine if the NetIQ Privileged Account Manager web management interface is accessible by attempting to reach the application's URL in a browser or checking for exposed web endpointsAffected if The web interface is accessible and the application is running a vulnerable version (3.1 or earlier without TU3)
A user is affected if their installed NetIQ Privileged Account Manager version is 3.1 or any earlier version, and Patch Update 3 has not been applied.
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 dataApply NetIQ Privileged Account Manager 3.1 Patch Update 3 or later, which contains the fix for this XSS vulnerability. Until patches are available, implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to filter malicious cookie values containing script tags.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-7438 — 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-2017-7438 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data