CVE-2017-5972: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-f37r-2v2w-7r8w
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-400
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2017-5972 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when the product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2017-5972 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2017-5972
GHSA Identifier GHSA-f37r-2v2w-7r8w
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2017-5972

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2017-5972, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption, where the product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

The TCP stack in the Linux kernel 3.x does not properly implement a SYN cookie protection mechanism for the case of a fast network connection, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) by sending many TCP SYN packets, as demonstrated by an attack against the kernel-3.10.0 package in CentOS Linux 7. NOTE: third parties have been unable to discern any relationship between the GitHub Engineering finding and the Trigemini.c attack code.

References

NVD — CVE-2017-5972 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-5972
Software Security Information SECURITY
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2017-5972
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi WEB
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1422081
Software Security Information SECURITY
https://cxsecurity.com/issue/WLB-2017020112
githubengineering.com/syn-flood-mitigatio... WEB
https://githubengineering.com/syn-flood-mitigation-with-synsanity
Software Security Information SECURITY
https://packetstormsecurity.com/files/141083/CentOS7-Kernel-Denial-Of-Service.html
Software Security Information SECURITY
https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2017-5972
www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41350 WEB
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41350
seclists.org/oss-sec/2017/q1/573 WEB
http://seclists.org/oss-sec/2017/q1/573
Software Security Information SECURITY
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/96231

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2017-5972?
CVE-2017-5972 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2017-5972?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2017-5972?
CVE-2017-5972 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2017-5972?
CVE-2017-5972 is classified under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2017-5972?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-f37r-2v2w-7r8w",
  "modified" : "2025-04-20T03:32:50Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-13T01:24:46Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2017-5972" ],
  "details" : "The TCP stack in the Linux kernel 3.x does not properly implement a SYN cookie protection mechanism for the case of a fast network connection, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) by sending many TCP SYN packets, as demonstrated by an attack against the kernel-3.10.0 package in CentOS Linux 7. NOTE: third parties have been unable to discern any relationship between the GitHub Engineering finding and the Trigemini.c attack code.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-5972"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2017-5972"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1422081"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://cxsecurity.com/issue/WLB-2017020112"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://githubengineering.com/syn-flood-mitigation-with-synsanity"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://packetstormsecurity.com/files/141083/CentOS7-Kernel-Denial-Of-Service.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2017-5972"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41350"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://seclists.org/oss-sec/2017/q1/573"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/96231"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-400" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2017-02-14T06:59:00Z"
  }
}