How severe is CVE-2017-17562?

CVE-2017-17562 has a CVSS score of 8.1/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2017-17562?

Affected package information for CVE-2017-17562 is not yet fully mapped. Check the official advisory links for details.

How do I fix CVE-2017-17562?

No fixed release is recorded for CVE-2017-17562 yet. Track the upstream advisory, and apply the exposure-reduction steps below in the meantime.

How do I detect CVE-2017-17562 in my code and dependencies?

Identify every host running the affected component and compare the installed build against the fixed version below — for source-built or distro-packaged software the version string, not a lockfile, is the source of truth (`dpkg -l`, `rpm -q`, or the binary's own `--version`).

How do I mitigate CVE-2017-17562 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

Is CVE-2017-17562 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 15 known exploit references for CVE-2017-17562, including 2 documented proof-of-concept exploits on Exploit-DB and 10 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2017-17562?

CVE-2017-17562 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 97.1%, placing it in the 100th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Is CVE-2017-17562 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2017-17562 (Embedthis GoAhead Remote Code Execution Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2021-12-10. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2022-06-10. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

Is there exploit tooling available for CVE-2017-17562?

A Nuclei detection template exists for CVE-2017-17562, meaning automated scanners can fingerprint it. Public exploit tooling significantly increases real-world risk — prioritize patching and ensure detection coverage. Exploit tooling should only ever be used in isolated, authorized testing environments.

When was CVE-2017-17562 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2017-17562 was published on December 12, 2017 and was last updated on October 21, 2025. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🛡️

CISA KEV · ACTIVELY EXPLOITED

HIGH severity

CVE-2017-17562 — Oracle

HIGHFix: embedthis/goahead@6f786c1

CVE-2017-17562 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.1) remote code execution vulnerability. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-12-10) — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.

Embedthis GoAhead before 3.6.5 allows remote code execution if CGI is enabled and a CGI program is dynamically linked. This is a result of initializing the environment of forked CGI…

Published

Dec 12, 2017

Updated

Oct 21, 2025

Affected

2 products

Patched

See advisory

Exploits

15 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 22, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

Actively exploited in the wild

Confirmed by CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-12-10. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2022-06-10.
A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA (KEV catalog and SSVC triage) for CVE-2017-17562.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

97.1%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk+0.80%

Lower risk than most CVEs100th percentile — riskier than 100% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2017-17562 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). In the shaded patch-first corner (EPSS 50%+, CVSS 7.0+).

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 394,415 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the ≥ 90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Description

Embedthis GoAhead before 3.6.5 allows remote code execution if CGI is enabled and a CGI program is dynamically linked. This is a result of initializing the environment of forked CGI scripts using untrusted HTTP request parameters in the cgiHandler function in cgi.c. When combined with the glibc dynamic linker, this behaviour can be abused for remote code execution using special parameter names such as LD_PRELOAD. An attacker can POST their shared object payload in the body of the request, and reference it using /proc/self/fd/0.

Affected Products

2 products · 3 configurations

Application

goaheadembedthis

< 3.6.5

range

Application

integrated lights out manageroracle

2 versions

3.04.0

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

EDB-43360remotelinux✓ Verified

GoAhead Web Server 2.5 < 3.6.5 - HTTPd 'LD_PRELOAD' Remote Code Execution

by Daniel Hodson · Dec 18, 2017

Exploit-DB Source

EDB-43877remotemultiple✓ Verified

GoAhead Web Server 2.5 < 3.6.5 - HTTPd 'LD_PRELOAD' Arbitrary Module Load (Metasploit)

by Metasploit · Jan 24, 2018

Exploit-DB Source

Detection & mitigation playbook

Vulnerability

Detect
Identify every host running the affected component and compare the installed build against the fixed version below — for source-built or distro-packaged software the version string, not a lockfile, is the source of truth (`dpkg -l`, `rpm -q`, or the binary's own `--version`).
Remediation status
No fixed release is recorded for CVE-2017-17562 yet. Track the upstream advisory, and apply the exposure-reduction steps below in the meantime.
Mitigate without a patch
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

How to detect CVE-2017-17562

A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:

nuclei -id cve-2017-17562 -u https://target

Template: Embedthis GoAhead <3.6.5 - Remote Code Execution
Severity: high
Impact: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target system.
Remediation: Upgrade to Embedthis GoAhead version 3.6.5 or later to mitigate this vulnerability.

Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (geeknik), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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