MesosApplication · Apache
CVE-2017-9790
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 · uneditedWhen handling a libprocess message wrapped in an HTTP request, libprocess in Apache Mesos before 1.1.3, 1.2.x before 1.2.2, 1.3.x before 1.3.1, and 1.4.0-dev crashes if the request path is empty, because the parser assumes the request path always starts with '/'. A malicious actor can therefore cause a denial of service of Mesos masters rendering the Mesos-controlled cluster inoperable.
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 libprocess component in Apache Mesos crashes when processing HTTP-wrapped libprocess messages containing an empty request path, because the internal parser incorrectly assumes the path always starts with '/'. This triggers a null-pointer dereference or parsing error that brings down Mesos masters, rendering the cluster inoperable.
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
MesosApplication
<= 1.1.2= 1.2.0= 1.2.1= 1.3.0= 1.3.1= 1.4.0-devCVSS 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.
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Identify installed Mesos versionRun `mesos-master --version` or `mesos-agent --version` to determine the exact Mesos version installed in the environmentAffected if The version matches one of the affected ranges: <= 1.1.2, 1.2.0, 1.2.1, 1.3.0, 1.3.1, or 1.4.0-dev
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Confirm Mesos master is runningCheck if the Mesos master process is active by querying the system process list or checking the master endpoint statusAffected if A Mesos master process is running on a version identified as affected in step 1
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Verify HTTP access to libprocess endpointAttempt a curl request to the master HTTP endpoint (default port 5050) with a malformed request that has an empty path, such as sending a request to the root endpoint without a leading slashAffected if The master accepts HTTP connections and processes libprocess-wrapped messages, allowing the malformed path to reach the vulnerable parser
A user is affected if they are running a Mesos master on any version listed as vulnerable AND that master is accessible via HTTP, enabling external actors to send the specially crafted messages with empty paths that trigger the parser crash.
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 Apache Mesos to version 1.1.3, 1.2.2, 1.3.1, or later versions to patch the path-parsing logic vulnerability.
Fix this in Mesos
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $5,760.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-9790 — 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-2017-9790 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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