Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2017-7654 is a denial-of-service issue in Eclipse Mosquitto. An unauthenticated network client can trigger a broker memory leak with crafted MQTT CONNECT packets, potentially exhausting resources and interrupting message handling.
Executive priority
Treat this as an availability risk for MQTT-dependent services. Prioritize internet-facing or operational brokers first, especially where broker outage affects telemetry, device control, or customer workflows.
Technical view
The issue is a CWE-401 memory leak in Eclipse Mosquitto 1.4.15 and earlier. The source bundle describes unauthenticated crafted CONNECT packets causing denial of service in the broker. CVSS and detailed fixed-version data are not included in the provided bundle.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where Mosquitto brokers version 1.4.15 or earlier accept MQTT connections from untrusted networks, partners, devices, or the internet.
Exploitation context
The bundle states unauthenticated clients can cause denial of service with crafted CONNECT packets. KEV is false, and the provided sources do not establish active exploitation.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports unauthenticated denial of service via memory leak, but not active exploitation. The source bundle lacks CVSS details, CPEs, and precise upstream fixed-version guidance beyond 1.4.15-and-earlier affected wording.
Mitigation direction
- Apply Mosquitto security updates from your OS vendor or Eclipse guidance.
- Upgrade deployments running Mosquitto 1.4.15 or earlier.
- Restrict MQTT listener access to trusted networks and clients.
- Monitor broker memory usage and unexpected restarts.
- Check vendor advisories before assuming a specific fixed version.
Validation and detection
- Inventory all Mosquitto broker instances and package versions.
- Confirm no exposed broker runs version 1.4.15 or earlier.
- Review firewall and listener exposure for untrusted MQTT access.
- Verify Debian or Ubuntu security updates are installed where applicable.
- Check monitoring for historical memory exhaustion or broker restarts.
Public sources used
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
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-401: 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.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2017-7654 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
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.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=533493CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- [debian-lts-announce] 20180928 [SECURITY] [DLA 1525-1] mosquitto security updateCVE reference · mailing-list, x_refsource_MLIST
- DSA-4325CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_DEBIAN
- USN-4023-1CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_UBUNTU
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.
Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.