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SpacewalkApplication · Redhat

CVE-2017-7470

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-07-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
It was found that spacewalk-channel can be used by a non-admin user or disabled users to perform administrative tasks due to an incorrect authorization check in backend/server/rhnChannel.py.

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

An authorization bypass vulnerability in Spacewalk's channel management module (backend/server/rhnChannel.py) allows non-admin users or even disabled users to perform administrative operations due to an incorrect authorization check. This enables privilege escalation where standard users can execute privileged channel management tasks.

MitigationApply the vendor patch to correct the authorization check in rhnChannel.py. Until patched, strictly limit access to the spacewalk-channel utility to trusted administrator accounts only.

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
SpacewalkApplication
Affected:all versions
SatelliteApplication
Affected:= 5.6= 5.7

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 if Red Hat Spacewalk or Satellite is installed
    Check for the presence of Spacewalk or Satellite components. On RHEL-based systems, run: rpm -qa | grep -i spacewalk or rpm -qa | grep -i satellite. Also check for the spacewalk-channel command: which spacewalk-channel or spacewalk-channel --help.
    Affected if Any Spacewalk installation of any version, or Satellite versions 5.6 or 5.7 is found on the system.
  2. Determine the installed Spacewalk or Satellite version
    Run: rpm -q spacewalk-common or rpm -q rhn-satellite (depending on product). For Satellite 5.x, also check: cat /etc/redhat-release and rpm -q rhn-satellite.
    Affected if The version falls within the affected range: all versions of Spacewalk, or Satellite 5.6 or 5.7.
  3. Locate and inspect the vulnerable rhnChannel.py module
    Find the file: find / -name rhnChannel.py 2>/dev/null. The vulnerable file is located in the backend/server/ directory of the Spacewalk installation. Check the file's authorization check logic around channel management functions.
    Affected if The rhnChannel.py file exists and contains the flawed authorization check that does not properly validate user privileges before allowing channel administrative operations.
  4. Verify non-admin user access to channel management
    As a non-administrator user, attempt to run spacewalk-channel commands such as spacewalk-channel --list or other channel management operations. Check if the user can execute privileged operations without proper admin credentials.
    Affected if Non-admin users or disabled users can successfully execute channel management commands that should require administrative privileges.
  5. Review user permission assignments for channel functions
    Examine the Spacewalk/Satellite user permissions configuration. Check the backend authorization settings that control which users can access rhnChannel.py functions. Look for users assigned to Channel Administrator role versus standard users.
    Affected if Standard (non-privileged) users are able to access or invoke channel management functions, or disabled user accounts retain the ability to perform these operations.

You are affected if Spacewalk of any version or Satellite 5.6/5.7 is installed and non-admin users can execute channel management operations that should require administrator privileges.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor patch to correct the authorization check in rhnChannel.py. Until patched, strictly limit access to the spacewalk-channel utility to trusted administrator accounts only.

Fix this in Spacewalk Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
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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-2017-7470 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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