Vulnerability Report

CVE-2017-5638

RCE CISA KEV Active

Title: Arubanetworks Clearpass Policy Manager RCE

RCE

Proof Of Concept

PoC Available for CVE-2017-5638

CWE Category CWE-755

Published Date Mar 11, 2017

Modified Date Jun 17, 2026

Exploit Status Available

Score 9.8 CVSS v3.1

Exploit Probability (EPSS)

100.00%

Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2017-5638: The Jakarta Multipart parser in Apache Struts 2 2.3.x before 2.3.32 and 2.5.x before 2.5.10.1 has incorrect exception handling and error-message generation during file-upload attempts, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted Content-Type, Content-Disposition, or Content-Length HTTP header, as exploited in the wild in March 2017 with a Content-Type header containing a #cmd= string.

Impacted Vendors

Reference Links

http://blog.talosintelligence.com/2017/03/apache-0-day-exploited.html http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/cve-2017-5638-apache-struts-vulnerability-remote-code-execution/ http://www.arubanetworks.com/assets/alert/ARUBA-PSA-2017-002.txt http://www.eweek.com/security/apache-struts-vulnerability-under-attack.html http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpujul2017-3236622.html http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/96729 http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037973 https://arstechnica.com/security/2017/03/critical-vulnerability-under-massive-attack-imperils-high-impact-sites/ https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/WW/S2-045 https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/WW/S2-046 https://exploit-db.com/exploits/41570 https://git1-us-west.apache.org/repos/asf?p=struts.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=352306493971e7d5a756d61780d57a76eb1f519a https://git1-us-west.apache.org/repos/asf?p=struts.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=6b8272ce47160036ed120a48345d9aa884477228 https://github.com/mazen160/struts-pwn https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/issues/8064 https://h20566.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-hpesbgn03733en_us https://h20566.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-hpesbgn03749en_us https://h20566.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-hpesbhf03723en_us https://isc.sans.edu/diary/22169 https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r1125f3044a0946d1e7e6f125a6170b58d413ebd4a95157e4608041c7%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r6d03e45b81eab03580cf7f8bb51cb3e9a1b10a2cc0c6a2d3cc92ed0c%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r90890afea72a9571d666820b2fe5942a0a5f86be406fa31da3dd0922%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E https://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/http-vuln-cve2017-5638.html https://packetstormsecurity.com/files/141494/S2-45-poc.py.txt https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20170310-0001/ https://struts.apache.org/docs/s2-045.html https://struts.apache.org/docs/s2-046.html https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/product_security/len-14200 https://twitter.com/theog150/status/841146956135124993 https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41614/ https://www.imperva.com/blog/2017/03/cve-2017-5638-new-remote-code-execution-rce-vulnerability-in-apache-struts-2/ https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/834067 https://www.symantec.com/security-center/network-protection-security-advisories/SA145 http://blog.talosintelligence.com/2017/03/apache-0-day-exploited.html http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/cve-2017-5638-apache-struts-vulnerability-remote-code-execution/ http://www.arubanetworks.com/assets/alert/ARUBA-PSA-2017-002.txt http://www.eweek.com/security/apache-struts-vulnerability-under-attack.html http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpujul2017-3236622.html http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/96729 http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037973 https://arstechnica.com/security/2017/03/critical-vulnerability-under-massive-attack-imperils-high-impact-sites/ https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/WW/S2-045 https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/WW/S2-046 https://exploit-db.com/exploits/41570 https://git1-us-west.apache.org/repos/asf?p=struts.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=352306493971e7d5a756d61780d57a76eb1f519a https://git1-us-west.apache.org/repos/asf?p=struts.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=6b8272ce47160036ed120a48345d9aa884477228 https://github.com/mazen160/struts-pwn https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/issues/8064 https://h20566.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-hpesbgn03733en_us https://h20566.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-hpesbgn03749en_us https://h20566.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-hpesbhf03723en_us https://isc.sans.edu/diary/22169 https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r1125f3044a0946d1e7e6f125a6170b58d413ebd4a95157e4608041c7%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r6d03e45b81eab03580cf7f8bb51cb3e9a1b10a2cc0c6a2d3cc92ed0c%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r90890afea72a9571d666820b2fe5942a0a5f86be406fa31da3dd0922%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E https://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/http-vuln-cve2017-5638.html https://packetstormsecurity.com/files/141494/S2-45-poc.py.txt https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20170310-0001/ https://struts.apache.org/docs/s2-045.html https://struts.apache.org/docs/s2-046.html https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/product_security/len-14200 https://twitter.com/theog150/status/841146956135124993 https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41614/ https://www.imperva.com/blog/2017/03/cve-2017-5638-new-remote-code-execution-rce-vulnerability-in-apache-struts-2/ https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/834067 https://www.symantec.com/security-center/network-protection-security-advisories/SA145 https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2017-5638

CVSS v3.1

Source Entity [email protected]

Severity CRITICAL

9.8

Attack Vector

NETWORK

Complexity

LOW

Privileges

N/A

Interaction

NONE

Confidentiality

N/A

Integrity

N/A

Availability

N/A

Scope

UNCHANGED

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

CVSS v3.1

Source Entity 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Severity CRITICAL

9.8

Attack Vector

NETWORK

Complexity

LOW

Privileges

N/A

Interaction

NONE

Confidentiality

N/A

Integrity

N/A

Availability

N/A

Scope

UNCHANGED

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

CVSS v2.0

Source Entity [email protected]

Severity HIGH

10.0

Access Vector

N/A

Authentication

N/A

RAW VECTOR AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Associated Attack Patterns (CAPEC)

Total: Patterns

CVE-2017-5638 Exploits & PoCs (Proof Of Concept)

Exploit-DB https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41570

View Code

Exploit-DB https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41614

View Code

June 17, 2026 MODIFIED

Vulnerability data updated via NVD.

April 21, 2026 MODIFIED

Vulnerability data updated via NVD.

April 21, 2026 MODIFIED

Vulnerability data updated via NVD.

October 22, 2025 MODIFIED

Vulnerability data or affected products updated.

March 11, 2017 PUBLISHED

Vulnerability first announced in NVD.

Attack Vector Matrix

Access Vector NETWORK

Complexity LOW

Privileges N/A

Interaction NONE

CVSS Vector String


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

Affected Stack

No specific products linked.