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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2017-9022

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2017-06-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 5.5.2 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
The gmp plugin in strongSwan before 5.5.3 does not properly validate RSA public keys before calling mpz_powm_sec, which allows remote peers to cause a denial of service (floating point exception and process crash) via a crafted certificate.

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

The gmp plugin in strongSwan before 5.5.3 fails to validate RSA public keys before passing them to the mpz_powm_sec function, allowing remote attackers to send crafted certificates that trigger a floating point exception and crash the VPN process.

MitigationUpgrade strongSwan to version 5.5.3 or later, which includes proper RSA public key validation in the gmp plugin.

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= 9.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 14.04= 16.04= 16.10= 17.04
StrongswanApplication
Affected:<= 5.5.2

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed strongSwan version
    Run `strongswan version` or `ipsec version`, or on Debian/Ubuntu run `dpkg -l | grep strongswan`
    Affected if Version is 5.5.2 or earlier (versions 5.5.3 and later are fixed)
  2. Verify gmp plugin is loaded
    Check ipsec.conf for `load_modular = yes` and `plugins { ... }` section, or run `ipsec status` to see loaded plugins, or list files in `/usr/lib/ipsec/plugins/` or `/usr/lib/strongswan/plugins/`
    Affected if The gmp plugin appears in the loaded plugins list or is enabled in configuration
  3. Confirm RSA-based authentication is configured
    Inspect `/etc/ipsec.conf` and files in `/etc/ipsec.d/` (especially `ipsec.secrets`, certificates in `certs/`, and private keys in `private/`). Look for `authby=rsa`, `authby=rsasig`, or RSA certificate/key files.
    Affected if RSA authentication (authby=rsa or rsasig) is configured or RSA certificates/keys are present in ipsec.d/ directories

Environment is affected if strongSwan version is 5.5.2 or earlier, the gmp plugin is enabled/loaded, and RSA-based authentication is in use, allowing a remote attacker to send crafted certificates that crash the VPN daemon.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 5.5.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade strongSwan to version 5.5.3 or later, which includes proper RSA public key validation in the gmp plugin.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,550
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,480.

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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-2017-9022 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