CVE-2017-18638 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in graphite-web. 2 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for graphite-web — see the affected versions and patch details below.
graphite.composer.views.send_email vulnerable to SSRF
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2017-18638 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,166 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 10–50% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
graphite-webReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
send_email in graphite-web/webapp/graphite/composer/views.py in Graphite through 1.1.5 is vulnerable to SSRF. The vulnerable SSRF endpoint can be used by an attacker to have the Graphite web server request any resource. The response to this SSRF request is encoded into an image file and then sent to an e-mail address that can be supplied by the attacker. Thus, an attacker can exfiltrate any information.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | graphite-web | all versions | 1.1.6pip install --upgrade 'graphite-web==1.1.6' |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for graphite-web, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update graphite-web to 1.1.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2017-18638 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
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 O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2017-18638 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2017-18638. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
How to detect CVE-2017-18638
A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:
nuclei -id cve-2017-18638 -u https://target- Template
- Graphite <=1.1.5 - Server-Side Request Forgery
- Severity
- high
- Impact
- An attacker can exploit this vulnerability to access internal resources, potentially leading to unauthorized access, data leakage, or further attacks.
- Remediation
- Upgrade to a patched version of Graphite (>=1.1.6) or apply the necessary security patches.
Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (huowuzhao), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2017-18638 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2017-18638 across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.