CVE-2017-12635

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

“—” beside the score: it is equal to NVD's CVSS score.

Score 9.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: CRITICAL) published 2022-05-13. NVD baseline CVSS 9.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: EPSS, GitHub Security Advisory, NVD CVSS v3
Trending — 3 sources updated this weekWeaponized

Also known asEUVD-2017-4174 (ENISA EUVD) · GHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f (GitHub Security Advisories)Source: ENISA EUVD

9.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixRemediate within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high (the SSVC decision on this page).
  • High exploitation likelihood — EPSS 99.8%
  • Public exploit code is available (Metasploit, Exploit-DB, marked verified by Exploit-DB, other public proof-of-concept code)
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 99.8%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: Metasploit · Exploit-DB (verified) · other public PoCExposed services: Not assessed

A fix is available — apply it.

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 v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8CRITICALmedium confidence
EG Risk
84
EG Risk 84/100

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score. It fuses impact severity (EG Severity, the CVSS base score, never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score) with real-world exploitation and automatability, under weights EchelonGraph set by hand, so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner.

How it’s computed (value × EchelonGraph’s weight)
Severity98% × 45%
Impact severity (EG Severity): CVSS 9.8 of 10. Never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score.
Exploitation99.8% × 40%
FIRST EPSS: the 30-day exploitation probability when EchelonGraph scored this CVE.
Automatability0% × 15%
CISA's BOD 26-04 default: no one has published Automatable for this CVE, and CISA treats it as “no” for a CVE not in KEV.
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph): Track at low, Track* at medium and Attend at high mission impact.
Exploitation public PoC (exploit code on record) · Automatable no (CISA's BOD 26-04 default) · Technical impact total (CISA's BOD 26-04 default). EchelonGraph holds no SSVC assessment of this CVE from CISA: none of these inputs is from Vulnrichment. EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE.
Action: A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high.
EPSS PROB
99.8%
EPSS %ILE
99th
KEV
Not listed

What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)

The EG score (9.8): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 9.8 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.

EG Severity
9.8 CRITICALCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
EG Likelihood
99.8% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-11-01). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
Confirmed exploitation
None on record (CISA KEV, EG-KEV Tier 1)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
EG Priority
SSVC Track* at medium mission impactTrack at low, Track* at medium and Attend at high mission impact.CISA BOD 26-04: 14 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.

SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at low, Track* at medium and Attend at high mission impact.

A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high.

Exploitation public PoC (exploit code on record) · Automatable no (CISA's BOD 26-04 default) · Technical impact total (CISA's BOD 26-04 default). EchelonGraph holds no SSVC assessment of this CVE from CISA: none of these inputs is from Vulnrichment. EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table

BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)14 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.

The score's inputs: In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA's BOD 26-04 default) · Technical impact total (CISA's BOD 26-04 default). Where an input reads “CISA's BOD 26-04 default”, no one has published it for this CVE, and CISA's implementation guidance says: “If “Automatable” and “Technical Impact” information items about a CVE ID are not available and the CVE ID is not in the KEV Catalog, CISA will treat its values as “no” and “total,” respectively, until CISA or a third party provides metadata about the CVE ID. CISA will always provide the Vulnrichment data for a CVE ID listed in the KEV Catalog.” Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it

Published

November 14, 2017

Last Modified

June 17, 2026

Advisory Details (7)

Auto-updated Oct 6, 2026
Patch available.
Web pageMentions a patch (unverified)

[SECURITY] [DLA 1252-1] couchdb security update

https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/01/msg00026.html
Web page

CVE-2017-12635 - PSIRT.COM

http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101868
Web page

CouchDB: Multiple vulnerabilities (GLSA 201711-16) — Gentoo security

https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201711-16
Web page

Apache CouchDB - Arbitrary Command Execution (Metasploit) - Linux remote Exploit

https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45019/
Web page

Apache CouchDB 1.7.0 / 2.x < 2.1.1 - Remote Privilege Escalation - Linux webapps Exploit

https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44498/

Affected Packages

(1 across 1 ecosystem)
Debian:7(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
couchdb1.2.0-5
  • every version up to 1.2.0-5+deb7u1: fixed in 1.2.0-5+deb7u1
—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 15× in last 7d / 44× in last 30d)

Each row is a time one of our pipelines fetched, updated or re-scored this CVE. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. An arrow marks a change the record states ("CVSS v3 → 9.1"); EPSS and GHSA rows show the values recorded at that time, not what changed (EPSS values are rounded; hover one for the exact figures). Most recent first.

A repeat, a row identical to one the same pipeline wrote less than 10 seconds earlier, is not a separate refresh and is not counted. 7 repeat rows among the latest 91 are merged into the row they repeat.

  1. 2026-11-02 14:25 UTCOSV refresh
  2. 2026-11-02 08:37 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-11-02 08:36 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  4. 2026-11-01 07:44 UTCEG score recompute
  5. 2026-11-01 07:44 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  6. 2026-10-31 06:51 UTCEG score recompute
  7. 2026-10-31 06:51 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  8. 2026-10-30 05:59 UTCEG score recompute
  9. 2026-10-30 05:59 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  10. 2026-10-29 05:07 UTCEG score recompute
  11. 2026-10-29 05:07 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  12. 2026-10-28 04:14 UTCEG score recompute
  13. 2026-10-28 04:14 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  14. 2026-10-27 03:08 UTCEG score recompute
  15. 2026-10-27 03:08 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  16. 2026-10-25 22:12 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  17. 2026-10-25 19:39 UTCEG score recompute
  18. 2026-10-24 21:13 UTCEG score recompute
  19. 2026-10-24 21:12 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  20. 2026-10-23 20:20 UTCEG score recompute
  21. 2026-10-23 20:19 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  22. 2026-10-22 19:25 UTCEG score recompute
  23. 2026-10-22 19:25 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  24. 2026-10-21 18:32 UTCEG score recompute
  25. 2026-10-21 18:32 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
Show 59 more
  1. 2026-10-20 17:39 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-10-20 17:39 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  3. 2026-10-19 16:46 UTCEG score recompute
  4. 2026-10-19 16:46 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  5. 2026-10-18 15:53 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  6. 2026-10-18 10:40 UTCEG score recompute
  7. 2026-10-17 14:58 UTCEG score recompute
  8. 2026-10-17 14:58 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  9. 2026-10-16 14:04 UTCEG score recompute
  10. 2026-10-16 14:04 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  11. 2026-10-15 12:38 UTCEG score recompute
  12. 2026-10-15 12:38 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  13. 2026-10-14 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99.8% · 99th percentile
  14. 2026-10-14 07:58 UTCEG score recompute
  15. 2026-10-14 07:58 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  16. 2026-10-13 03:11 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  17. 2026-10-12 20:35 UTCEG score recompute
  18. 2026-10-12 00:58 UTCEG score recompute
  19. 2026-10-04 02:14 UTCOSV refresh
  20. 2026-09-30 09:24 UTCEG score recompute
  21. 2026-09-24 13:59 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99.8% · 99th percentile
  22. 2026-09-17 19:22 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99.8% · 99th percentile
  23. 2026-09-15 03:05 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99.8% · 99th percentile
  24. 2026-09-14 16:14 UTCOSV refresh
  25. 2026-08-30 19:13 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99.8% · 99th percentile
  26. 2026-08-28 21:36 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99.7% · 99th percentile
  27. 2026-08-26 16:13 UTCOSV refresh
  28. 2026-08-24 14:10 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99.8% · 99th percentile
  29. 2026-08-16 02:10 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99.8% · 99th percentile
  30. 2026-08-10 06:09 UTCOSV refresh
  31. 2026-08-09 13:42 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99.8% · 99th percentile
  32. 2026-07-26 14:51 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99.8% · 99th percentile
  33. 2026-07-25 06:41 UTCOSV refresh
  34. 2026-07-23 01:26 UTCEG score recompute
  35. 2026-07-22 22:05 UTCEG score recompute
  36. 2026-07-09 19:06 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99.8% · 99th percentile
  37. 2026-07-08 01:05 UTCOSV refresh
  38. 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99.8% · 99th percentile
  39. 2026-06-19 12:55 UTCOSV refresh
  40. 2026-06-15 17:45 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99.9% · 99th percentile
  41. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 94% · 99th percentile
  42. 2026-06-11 13:57 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 94% · 99th percentile
  43. 2026-06-10 22:15 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 94% · 99th percentile
  44. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 94% · 99th percentile
  45. 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 94% · 99th percentile
  46. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 94% · 99th percentile
  47. 2026-05-30 20:53 UTCOSV refresh
  48. 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 94% · 99th percentile
  49. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 94% · 99th percentile
  50. 2026-05-20 08:23 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  51. 2026-05-20 04:14 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  52. 2026-05-20 00:05 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  53. 2026-05-19 19:56 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  54. 2026-05-19 15:47 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  55. 2026-05-19 11:37 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  56. 2026-05-19 07:24 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  57. 2026-05-19 03:10 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-f3p2-qqmm-jg8f · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  58. 2026-05-18 23:01 UTCEG score recompute
  59. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 94% · 99th percentile

Publicly available exploits

(6 references)

Public exploit code is referenced for this CVE (2 Metasploit modules, 2 Exploit-DB entries, 1 GitHub PoC), as is 1 Nuclei detection template. A detection template checks whether a system is affected; it is not necessarily exploit code. Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly.

  • Exploit-DBEDB-45019✓ verified
    Published Jul 13, 2018

    Apache CouchDB - Arbitrary Command Execution (Metasploit)

    Open source ↗
  • Metasploitexploit/linux/http/apache_couchdb_cmd_exec✓ verified
    Published Jul 12, 2018

    Apache CouchDB Arbitrary Command Execution

    Open source ↗
  • Metasploitauxiliary/scanner/couchdb/couchdb_enum✓ verified
    Published May 14, 2013

    CouchDB Enum Utility

    Open source ↗
  • Nucleihttp/cves/2017/CVE-2017-12635.yaml
    Published Feb 15, 2021

    Apache CouchDB 1.7.0 / 2.x < 2.1.1 - Remote Privilege Escalation

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCassalielmehdi/CVE-2017-12635
    Published Nov 7, 2019

    Case study and POC of CVE-2017-12635: Apache CouchDB 1.7.0 / 2.x < 2.1.1 - Remote Privilege Escalation

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-44498
    Published Apr 23, 2018

    Apache CouchDB 1.7.0 / 2.x < 2.1.1 - Remote Privilege Escalation

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2017-12635?
CVE-2017-12635 is a critical-severity vulnerability; its CVE record was published on November 14, 2017. 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,…
When was CVE-2017-12635 made public?
CVE-2017-12635 was made public on November 14, 2017: that is the date its CVE record's CNA, Apache Software Foundation, gives for when the vulnerability was made public. The CVE record itself was published on November 14, 2017. EchelonGraph's copy of the record carries a last-modified date of June 17, 2026; the record at its source may have been updated since.
Is CVE-2017-12635 actively exploited?
CVE-2017-12635 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. EchelonGraph's EG-KEV model places it in Tier 2 (Weaponized), which is not evidence of exploitation: a Metasploit module exists for it, and Exploit-DB marks a public exploit for it as verified. EchelonGraph does not test whether exploit code works. FIRST EPSS estimates a 99.8% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (99th percentile of EPSS-scored CVEs).
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2017-12635?
CVE-2017-12635 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2017-12635?
A fix for CVE-2017-12635 is available: update to the fixed version the vendor names in its advisory.

Dependency Blast Radius

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