CVE-2017-7892
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 · uneditedSandstorm Cap'n Proto before 0.5.3.1 allows remote crashes related to a compiler optimization. A remote attacker can trigger a segfault in a 32-bit libcapnp application because Cap'n Proto relies on pointer arithmetic calculations that overflow. An example compiler with optimization that elides a bounds check in such calculations is Apple LLVM version 8.1.0 (clang-802.0.41). The attack vector is a crafted far pointer within a message.
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 remote attacker can cause a segfault in 32-bit libcapnp applications by sending a crafted far pointer within a message. The vulnerability exists because Cap'n Proto relies on pointer arithmetic calculations that overflow, and certain compiler optimizations (like Apple LLVM 8.1.0) elide bounds checks in these calculations.
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<= 0.5.3CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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.
-
Identify installed Cap'n Proto versionRun 'capnp --version' or check the library version via your system's package manager (dpkg, rpm, brew) or examine the libcapnp shared object file metadataAffected if The version is 0.5.3 or earlier
-
Confirm 32-bit architecture is in useCheck if the process or application using Cap'n Proto is running as a 32-bit executable (file <binary> on Linux or Task Manager details on Windows)Affected if The application or library is compiled for 32-bit (i386, i686, x86)
-
Identify if libcapnp handles network messagesReview application configuration or code to determine if it uses Cap'n Proto for deserializing messages received over the networkAffected if The application accepts Cap'n Proto messages from untrusted network sources
-
Check for exposed Cap'n Proto network servicesAudit listening network services (netstat, ss, or similar tools) for any services using Cap'n Proto protocolAffected if There is a network service that processes incoming Cap'n Proto messages
You are affected if your installed Cap'n Proto library version is 0.5.3 or earlier AND you run 32-bit applications that receive Cap'n Proto messages from network sources.
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 dataUpgrade Cap'n Proto library to version 0.5.3.1 or later to patch the integer overflow vulnerability in pointer arithmetic calculations.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,512.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-7892 — 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-2017-7892 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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