CVE-2017-8391
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 · uneditedThe OS Installation Management component in CA Client Automation r12.9, r14.0, and r14.0 SP1 places an encrypted password into a readable local file during operating system installation, which allows local users to obtain sensitive information by reading this file after operating system installation.
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 confidenceThe OS Installation Management component in CA Client Automation versions r12.9, r14.0, and r14.0 SP1 stores an encrypted password in a local file that remains readable after the operating system installation completes. Local users with access to the system can read this file and obtain the encrypted password, potentially leading to credential compromise.
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= r12.9= r14.0CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify CA Client Automation versionCheck the installed version of CA Client Automation using the product's version detection mechanism (typically via command line tool 'camcfg' or checking installed programs in Control Panel). Compare your installed version against r12.9, r14.0, and r14.0 SP1.Affected if Version is r12.9, r14.0, or r14.0 SP1
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Confirm OS Installation Management feature usageIdentify whether the OS Installation Management component has been used. Look for output files or logs related to OS Installation Management in the CA Client Automation data directories (typically under the product installation directory or configured output paths).Affected if OS Installation Management has been used and output files exist
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Locate password storage fileSearch for files created by the OS Installation Management component that may contain encrypted passwords. These are typically output configuration or credential files generated during OS deployment tasks.Affected if Files created by OS Installation Management containing encrypted credentials exist on the system
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Check file permissions on output filesExamine the access permissions on the identified OS Installation Management output files. Use OS-level commands (such as 'icacls' on Windows or 'ls -l' on Unix/Linux) to view who has read access to these files.Affected if File permissions allow read access by users other than the owner or administrators (world-readable or accessible by non-privileged local users)
A user is affected if they have CA Client Automation r12.9, r14.0, or r14.0 SP1 installed, have used the OS Installation Management feature, and the resulting credential files have overly permissive access controls that allow local unauthorized users to read them.
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 the relevant patch from CA Technologies for the affected Client Automation versions, or ensure that file permissions on the OS Installation Management output files are restricted to prevent unauthorized local access.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-8391 — 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-2017-8391 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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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