# CVE-2017-12119: Denial of service in CPP-Ethereum

> Attackers can cause denial of service in CPP-Ethereum JSON-RPC by sending specially crafted JSON requests that trigger unhandled exceptions.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 19 Jan 2018
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-p4g7-mgvx-4rmf

## What is CVE-2017-12119?

CVE-2017-12119 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Talos CPP-Ethereum, published on 19 Jan 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An exploitable unhandled exception vulnerability exists in multiple APIs of CPP-Ethereum JSON-RPC. Specially crafted JSON requests can cause an unhandled exception resulting in denial of service. An attacker can send malicious JSON to trigger this vulnerability.

Weakness: CWE-754 (Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-12119?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ethereum Cpp-Ethereum.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-12119?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-12119 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-12119 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-12119 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Talos CPP-Ethereum

- [CVE-2017-12115](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12115/): Missing authorization in CPP-Ethereum (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2017-12112](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12112/): Missing authorization in CPP-Ethereum (medium 4.0)
- [CVE-2017-12113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12113/): Missing authorization in CPP-Ethereum (medium 4.0)
- [CVE-2017-12114](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12114/): Missing authorization in CPP-Ethereum (medium 4.0)
- [CVE-2017-12117](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12117/): Missing authorization in CPP-Ethereum (medium 4.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-12119 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-12119 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Talos CPP-Ethereum, published on 19 Jan 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-12119 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Talos CPP-Ethereum. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12119/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12119/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-12119
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-12119
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-12119

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12119/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.