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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2017-8028

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-11-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
90/100
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
In Pivotal Spring-LDAP versions 1.3.0 - 2.3.1, when connected to some LDAP servers, when no additional attributes are bound, and when using LDAP BindAuthenticator with org.springframework.ldap.core.support.DefaultTlsDirContextAuthenticationStrategy as the authentication strategy, and setting userSearch, authentication is allowed with an arbitrary password when the username is correct. This occurs because some LDAP vendors require an explicit operation for the LDAP bind to take effect.

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

In Pivotal Spring-LDAP versions 1.3.0 through 2.3.1, a vulnerability exists in the LDAP BindAuthenticator when using DefaultTlsDirContextAuthenticationStrategy with userSearch. When connected to certain LDAP servers and when no additional attributes are bound, the authentication incorrectly accepts any password as long as the username is correct. This occurs because some LDAP vendors require an explicit operation for the LDAP bind to take effect, and this explicit operation is not being performed in the affected configuration.

MitigationUpgrade Spring-LDAP to a patched version (2.3.2 or later) that addresses this authentication bypass. Alternatively, review LDAP authentication configuration and ensure proper bind operations are being executed, or switch to a different authentication strategy if upgrade is not immediately feasible.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0
Spring LdapFramework / library
Affected:= 1.3.0= 1.3.1= 1.3.2= 2.0.0= 2.0.1= 2.0.2= 2.0.3= 2.0.4= 2.1.0= 2.2.0= 2.2.1= 2.3.0

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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/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 the installed Spring-LDAP version
    Examine your project's dependency management (Maven pom.xml, Gradle build.gradle, or JAR manifest) to locate the spring-ldap-core library version
    Affected if The version falls within 1.3.0 through 2.3.1 (including 1.3.0, 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 2.0.0 through 2.0.4, 2.1.0, 2.2.0, 2.2.1, 2.3.0)
  2. Verify DefaultTlsDirContextAuthenticationStrategy is in use
    Search your codebase and configuration files for any references to DefaultTlsDirContextAuthenticationStrategy, commonly found in LDAP context configuration XML files or Java configuration classes
    Affected if DefaultTlsDirContextAuthenticationStrategy is explicitly configured and in use
  3. Confirm userSearch is configured
    Search your LDAP authentication configuration for userSearchBase and userSearchFilter settings, which indicate the use of userSearch for LDAP authentication
    Affected if The BindAuthenticator is configured with userSearch for querying user credentials
  4. Check for additional attribute binding
    Inspect your LDAP context source configuration to see if custom attributes are being bound during authentication (search for attribute mapping or additional context attributes)
    Affected if No additional attributes are being bound during the LDAP bind operation

You are affected if your environment uses Spring-LDAP versions 1.3.0 through 2.3.1 AND combines DefaultTlsDirContextAuthenticationStrategy with userSearch without any additional attribute binding.

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

Upgrade Spring-LDAP to a patched version (2.3.2 or later) that addresses this authentication bypass. Alternatively, review LDAP authentication configuration and ensure proper bind operations are being executed, or switch to a different authentication strategy if upgrade is not immediately feasible.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,440
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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-2017-8028 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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