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CVE Record

CVE-2017-20166: Ecto 2.2.0 lacks a certain protection mechanism associated with the interaction between is_nil and raise.

Ecto 2.2.0 lacks a certain protection mechanism associated with the interaction between is_nil and raise.

CriticalCVSS 9.8Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysiscritical

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2017-20166 is reported as a critical Ecto 2.2.0 flaw involving missing protection around the interaction of is_nil and raise. The public metadata is sparse, but the CVSS score indicates possible full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact if an application is actually exposed.

Executive priority

Treat as urgent where Ecto 2.2.0 is present in production, especially internet-facing services. Do not assume organization-wide exposure from the CVSS score alone; first confirm dependency use, then remediate confirmed instances quickly.

Technical view

The CVE describes CWE-754 improper handling of exceptional conditions in Ecto 2.2.0. References point to an upstream PR and commit, but the bundle does not provide affected CPEs, patched version details, or a complete exploitability narrative.

Likely exposure

Most likely exposure is Elixir applications that depend on Ecto 2.2.0. The official affected-product fields in the provided bundle are n/a, so teams should verify through package inventories rather than relying on scanner CPE matching alone.

Exploitation context

The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. The network, unauthenticated CVSS vector suggests high theoretical risk, but real exposure depends on how the affected Ecto behavior is reachable in the application.

Researcher notes

The record is unusually thin for a critical CVE: affected vendor/product are n/a, and public text does not explain the attack path. Analysis should stay anchored to upstream Ecto references and avoid extrapolating beyond confirmed version and behavior details.

Mitigation direction

  • Identify any application dependency on Ecto 2.2.0.
  • Review upstream advisory, PR, and commit for the vendor-supported fix path.
  • Move affected applications to a fixed or supported Ecto release when confirmed.
  • Prioritize externally exposed applications using Ecto-backed request handling.
  • Document any compensating controls if upgrade timing is constrained.

Validation and detection

  • Check SBOMs and dependency manifests for Ecto 2.2.0.
  • Confirm scanner findings manually because CPE data is incomplete.
  • Review affected code paths involving Ecto query behavior, is_nil, and raise.
  • Verify the deployed package version after remediation.
  • Monitor upstream advisory updates for corrected affected-version details.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
6

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-754: Exact CWE lookup

Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

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cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2017-20166 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

1CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
5Source links

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We 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.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
9.8CVSS 3.1CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H3.95.9Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

9.8Critical
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2017-20166Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
n/an/an/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-754

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-754 · source CWE mapping

Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions

Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.

Open CWE intelligenceSame-CWE CVEs