Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2017-2784

An exploitable free of a stack pointer vulnerability exists in the x509 certificate parsing code of ARM mbed TLS before 1.3.19, 2.x before 2.1.7, and 2.4.x before 2.4.2. A specially crafted x509 certificate, when parsed by mbed TLS library, can cause an invalid free of a stack pointer leading to a potential remote code execution. In order to exploit this vulnerability, an attacker can act as either a client or a server on a network to deliver malicious x509 certificates to vulnerable applications.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.1, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network but requires specific conditions to be met without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from arm organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

First disclosed in 2017, this vulnerability was reported during a period defined by widespread IoT adoption challenges, mobile security concerns, and the emergence of advanced persistent threat (APT) techniques. Contemporary mitigation strategies focused on secure development practices and third-party component vetting.

Published

2017-04-20T18:59:01.593

Last Modified

2025-04-20T01:37:25.860

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.0: 8.1 (HIGH)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Access Vector: NETWORK
Access Complexity: MEDIUM
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: PARTIAL
Integrity Impact: PARTIAL
Availability Impact: PARTIAL

Exploitability Score

8.6

Impact Score

6.4

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-295

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	arm	mbed_tls	≤ 1.3.18	Yes
Application	arm	mbed_tls	2.0.0	Yes
Application	arm	mbed_tls	2.1.0	Yes
Application	arm	mbed_tls	2.1.1	Yes
Application	arm	mbed_tls	2.1.2	Yes
Application	arm	mbed_tls	2.1.3	Yes
Application	arm	mbed_tls	2.1.4	Yes
Application	arm	mbed_tls	2.1.5	Yes
Application	arm	mbed_tls	2.1.6	Yes
Application	arm	mbed_tls	2.4.0	Yes

References

http://www.talosintelligence.com/reports/TALOS-2017-0274/ Exploit, Technical Description, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201706-18 ([email protected])
https://tls.mbed.org/tech-updates/security-advisories/mbedtls-security-advisory-2017-01 Mitigation, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.talosintelligence.com/reports/TALOS-2017-0274/ Exploit, Technical Description, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201706-18 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://tls.mbed.org/tech-updates/security-advisories/mbedtls-security-advisory-2017-01 Mitigation, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For arm's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.