CVE-2017-12635
Due to differences in the Erlang-based JSON parser and JavaScript-based JSON parser, it is possible in Apache CouchDB before 1.7.0 and 2.x before...
Basic Information
- CVE State
- PUBLISHED
- Reserved Date
- August 07, 2017
- Published Date
- November 14, 2017
- Last Updated
- September 17, 2024
- Vendor
- Apache Software Foundation
- Product
- Apache CouchDB
- Description
- Due to differences in the Erlang-based JSON parser and JavaScript-based JSON parser, it is possible in Apache CouchDB before 1.7.0 and 2.x before 2.1.1 to submit _users documents with duplicate keys for 'roles' used for access control within the database, including the special case '_admin' role, that denotes administrative users. In combination with CVE-2017-12636 (Remote Code Execution), this can be used to give non-admin users access to arbitrary shell commands on the server as the database system user. The JSON parser differences result in behaviour that if two 'roles' keys are available in the JSON, the second one will be used for authorising the document write, but the first 'roles' key is used for subsequent authorization for the newly created user. By design, users can not assign themselves roles. The vulnerability allows non-admin users to give themselves admin privileges.
CVSS Scores
EPSS Score
- Score
- 94.15% (Percentile: 99.90%) as of 2025-04-29
Exploit Status
- Exploited in the Wild
- Yes (added 2025-04-24 00:00:00 UTC) Source
References
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44498/
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45019/
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/6c405bf3f8358e6314076be9f48c89a2e0ddf00539906291ebdf0c67%40%3Cdev.couchdb.apache.org%3E
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201711-16
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/01/msg00026.html
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101868
https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-hpesbmu03935en_us
Known Exploited Vulnerability Information
| Source | Added Date |
|---|---|
| The Shadowserver (via CIRCL) | 2025-04-25 00:00:00 UTC |
Scanner Integrations
| Scanner | URL | Date Detected |
|---|---|---|
| Metasploit | https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/http/apache_couchdb_cmd_exec.rb | 2025-04-29 11:01:11 UTC |
| Nuclei | https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2017/CVE-2017-12635.yaml | 2025-04-26 00:00:00 UTC |
Potential Proof of Concepts
Warning: These PoCs have not been tested and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.
apache_couchdb_cmd_exec
Type: metasploit • Created: Unknown
Metasploit module for CVE-2017-12635
cyberharsh/Apache-couchdb-CVE-2017-12635
Type: github • Created: 2020-06-19 20:48:28 UTC • Stars: 1
assalielmehdi/CVE-2017-12635
Type: github • Created: 2019-11-07 20:02:31 UTC • Stars: 10
Case study and POC of CVE-2017-12635: Apache CouchDB 1.7.0 / 2.x < 2.1.1 - Remote Privilege Escalation