Security readout for executives and security teams
CVE-2017-15120 is a denial-of-service flaw in PowerDNS Recursor before 4.0.8. An unauthenticated remote attacker could make the resolver crash by triggering a NULL pointer dereference during DNS answer parsing. The business risk is loss or degradation of DNS resolution, which can disrupt applications, user access, and dependent services. Exposure is likely where PowerDNS Recursor versions before 4.0.8 are deployed, especially if the resolver accepts queries from untrusted networks or resolves domains influenced by external authoritative servers. The source bundle does not identify other affected products. Prioritize remediation for production recursive DNS servers because exploitation can disrupt name resolution without authentication. This is not described as data theft or system takeover, but DNS outage can have broad operational impact. Patch exposed or business-critical resolvers first. Mitigation focus: Upgrade PowerDNS Recursor to 4.0.8 or later.; Apply distribution vendor fixes, including Debian DSA-4063 where applicable.; Restrict recursive DNS access to trusted clients and networks..
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
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Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2017-15120 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.5 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
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CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H3.93.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
7.5HighVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2017-15120CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://doc.powerdns.com/recursor/security-advisories/powerdns-advisory-2017-08.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- DSA-4063CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_DEBIAN
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
NULL Pointer Dereference
NULL Pointer Dereference represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.