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NetbackupApplication · Veritas

CVE-2017-8856

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-05-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 8.0 or later.
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
In Veritas NetBackup 8.0 and earlier and NetBackup Appliance 3.0 and earlier, there is unauthenticated, arbitrary remote command execution using the 'bprd' process.

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 · moderate confidence

Unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability in the bprd (NetBackup Request Daemon) process of Veritas NetBackup 8.0 and earlier and NetBackup Appliance 3.0 and earlier. An attacker can execute arbitrary commands on the target system without any authentication credentials, gaining full system compromise.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of NetBackup and NetBackup Appliance beyond the affected versions. As a temporary measure, restrict network access to bprd service ports and implement network segmentation to limit exposure.

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
NetbackupApplication
Affected:<= 8.0
Netbackup ApplianceApplication
Affected:<= 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
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 NetBackup is installed
    Look for NetBackup installation directories (typically /usr/openv or C:\Program Files\Veritas) or check for bprd process running via 'ps aux | grep bprd' on Unix or 'tasklist | findstr bprd' on Windows
    Affected if NetBackup software is present and bprd process is running
  2. Determine NetBackup version
    Run 'bpgetconfig' command if available, check /usr/openv/netbackup/version on Unix or registry keys under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Veritas\NetBackup\CurrentVersion on Windows
    Affected if Installed version is 8.0 or earlier for NetBackup, or 3.0 or earlier for NetBackup Appliance
  3. Verify bprd service is exposed
    Check if bprd is listening on network ports (default port 13722) using 'netstat -anp | grep 13722' or 'nmap -p 13722 <target>'
    Affected if bprd daemon is bound to a network interface and accessible remotely
  4. Check network accessibility of bprd port
    Review firewall rules and network ACLs to determine if port 13722 (or custom configured bprd port) is open to untrusted networks
    Affected if bprd port is exposed to external/untrusted networks without restriction

A system is affected if NetBackup or NetBackup Appliance version 8.0/3.0 or earlier is installed with the bprd daemon running and accessible over the network.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 8.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of NetBackup and NetBackup Appliance beyond the affected versions. As a temporary measure, restrict network access to bprd service ports and implement network segmentation to limit exposure.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

NetBackup 8.1 or later (or latest available stable release); NetBackup Appliance 3.1 or later

  1. 1. Identify the current NetBackup version by running 'bpgetconfig' or checking the About section in the NetBackup Administration Console
  2. 2. Consult the Veritas Support website (support.veritas.com) or release notes to obtain the latest NetBackup version for your platform
  3. 3. Download the appropriate upgrade package for NetBackup or NetBackup Appliance from Veritas Electronic Software Distribution (ESD)
  4. 4. Review the Veritas NetBackup Upgrade Guide for your specific version for pre-upgrade requirements such as catalog backups
  5. 5. Execute the upgrade following the documented upgrade procedure, ensuring proper backups are taken first
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the 'bprd' process permissions have been corrected and the service is running correctly
  7. 7. Confirm the version has been updated by checking 'bpgetconfig' or the Administration Console
Caveat Review release notes for your specific upgrade path as certain upgrades may require catalog migrations or have compatibility considerations with legacy clients

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Netbackup Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
48.0 hours of engineering $8,320
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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-2017-8856 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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