CVE-2017-17562 — Embedthis GoAhead Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Embedthis GoAhead before 3.6.5 allows remote code execution if CGI is enabled and a CGI program is dynamically linked. This is a result of initializing the environment of forked CGI scripts using untrusted HTTP request parameters in the cgiHandler function in cgi.c. When combined

01What is this vulnerability?

Embedthis GoAhead before 3.6.5 allows remote code execution if CGI is enabled and a CGI program is dynamically linked. This is a result of initializing the environment of forked CGI scripts using untrusted HTTP request parameters in the cgiHandler function in cgi.c. When combined with the glibc dynamic linker, this behaviour can be abused for remote code execution using special parameter names…

02Affected products

Vendor	Product	Versions
n	a / n/a	n/a

03Active exploitation status

Yes — actively exploited. Added to the CISA KEV catalog on 2021-12-10. Ransomware use: Unknown.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Open the Sigma generator with a pre-filled prompt for this CVE to draft a starting detection in your stack of choice:

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07Related CVEs

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2017-12-12T19:00:00.000Z
• Last modified: 2025-10-21T23:45:57.300Z
• Added to CISA KEV: 2021-12-10
• BOD 22-01 due: 2022-06-10

09References

• github.com — https://github.com/elttam/advisories/tree/master/CVE-2017-17562
• www.securitytracker.com — http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1040702
• www.elttam.com.au — https://www.elttam.com.au/blog/goahead/
• www.exploit-db.com — https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43360/
• www.oracle.com — http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpuapr2018-3678067.html
• github.com — https://github.com/embedthis/goahead/commit/6f786c123196eb622625a920d54048629a7c…
• github.com — https://github.com/embedthis/goahead/issues/249
• www.exploit-db.com — https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/43877/