Skip to content
Noroxi
NVD / CVE Program· CNA isc

CVE-2017-3138: named exits with a REQUIRE assertion failure if it receives a null command string on its control channel

MediumCVSS 5.3 · v3.0—No exploit Fix available

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 23/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 5.5% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 92.9% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.
  • Fixed version: bind (Alpine:v3.10) 9.11.0_p5-r0; bind (Alpine:v3.2) 9.10.4_p8; bind (Alpine:v3.3) 9.10.4_p8-r0.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to bind (Alpine:v3.10) 9.11.0_p5-r0; bind (Alpine:v3.2) 9.10.4_p8; bind (Alpine:v3.3) 9.10.4_p8-r0 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

named contains a feature which allows operators to issue commands to a running server by communicating with the server process over a control channel, using a utility program such as rndc. A regression introduced in a recent feature change has created a situation under which some versions of named can be caused to exit with a REQUIRE assertion failure if they are sent a null command string. Affects BIND 9.9.9->9.9.9-P7, 9.9.10b1->9.9.10rc2, 9.10.4->9.10.4-P7, 9.10.5b1->9.10.5rc2, 9.11.0->9.11.0-P4, 9.11.1b1->9.11.1rc2, 9.9.9-S1->9.9.9-S9.

Published
Jan 16, 2019
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
5.5% · 92th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

23

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
21 / 40 · 5.3 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
2 / 30 · 5.5%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
5.3
CNA · isc
6.5
1.2 point gap

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2017-3138

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

One daily email digest (06:00 UTC); connect a webhook for KEV listings and weaponized exploits every 10 minutes on paid plans, on the hour on the free plan.

Your free account also gets you

  • CVE alerts: add the products and versions you run, get the new CVEs that affect them
  • Uptime monitoring: 1 site, instant email when it goes down
  • Add your domain: subdomains and takeover risk scanned every week (1 domain)
  • 10 scans an hour on the security tools, at most 30 a day (3 a day without an account), an API key and MCP
  • All your scans in one panel: findings, what changed in the last scan, a report per domain or per client (PDF, share link)
All free tools

Sign up with email · Have an account? Sign in

Free account, no card. Unfollow any time.

Don't want an account? Get "Exploited this week" by email every MondayDon't want an account? RSS feed for isc records
Is your version affected? Check it

Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

We use this product, ask for help

Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
iscbind
netappdata ontap edge
netappelement software
netapponcommand balance
debiandebian linux

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (isc). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • ISC BIND 9

    • 9.9.9->9.9.9-P7, 9.9.10b1->9.9.10rc2, 9.10.4->9.10.4-P7, 9.10.5b1->9.10.5rc2, 9.11.0->9.11.0-P4, 9.11.1b1->9.11.1rc2, 9.9.9-S1->9.9.9-S9affected
Affected versions · NVD (10)

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • debian debian linux8.0
  • isc bind9.10.4
  • isc bind9.10.5
  • isc bind9.11.0
  • isc bind9.11.1
  • isc bind9.9.10
  • isc bind9.9.9
  • netapp data ontap edgeall versions
  • netapp element softwareall versions
  • netapp oncommand balanceall versions

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Alpine:v3.10bindbefore 9.11.0_p5-r09.11.0_p5-r0
Alpine:v3.2bindbefore 9.10.4_p89.10.4_p8
Alpine:v3.3bindbefore 9.10.4_p8-r09.10.4_p8-r0
Debian:12bind9before 1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.31:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3
Debian:7bind9before 1:9.8.4.dfsg.P1-6+nmu2+deb7u161:9.8.4.dfsg.P1-6+nmu2+deb7u16
Debian:8bind9before 1:9.9.5.dfsg-9+deb8u111:9.9.5.dfsg-9+deb8u11
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP1bindbefore 9.9.9P1-59.19.9.9P1-59.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12bindbefore 9.9.9P1-28.34.19.9.9P1-28.34.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 11 SP4bindbefore 9.9.6P1-0.44.19.9.6P1-0.44.1

Same product

isc: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2015-5477named in ISC BIND 9.x before 9.9.7-P2 and 9.10.x before 9.10.2-P3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (REQUIRE assertion…KEV
    90Now
  • CVE-2020-8617A logic error in code which checks TSIG validity can be used to trigger an assertion failure in tsig.c
    60This week
  • CVE-2016-2776buffer.c in named in ISC BIND 9 before 9.9.9-P3, 9.10.x before 9.10.4-P3, and 9.11.x before 9.11.0rc3 does not properly construct…
    60This week

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2017-3136Jan 16, 2019 · An error handling synthesized records could cause an assertion failure when using DNS64 with "break-dnssec yes;"
    26Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2017-3137Jan 16, 2019 · A response packet can cause a resolver to terminate when processing an answer containing a CNAME or DNAME
    33Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2017-3140Jan 16, 2019 · An error processing RPZ rules can cause named to loop endlessly after handling a query
    27Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
alpine:bind9.11.0_p5-r0 · Alpine:v3.10Package registry (OSV)
debian:bind91:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
suse:bind9.9.9P1-59.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP1Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

Not on record for this CVE: EPSS history · patch commit or PR link · variant or chain candidate · public bounty program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
none
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-617 · Reachable Assertion

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

References

Show all references (5 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records