# CVE-2017-12424: Memory corruption in n/a

> Malformed input in the newusers tool can cause memory corruption, potentially allowing privilege escalation or crashes in hosting environments.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 4 Aug 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** CLSA-2026-1777945742, CLSA-2026-1777947090, DEBIAN-CVE-2017-12424, GHSA-mmpg-c26w-2pfg, MGASA-2017-0465, SUSE-SU-2017:2947-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-12424

## What is CVE-2017-12424?

CVE-2017-12424 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 4 Aug 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In shadow before 4.5, the newusers tool could be made to manipulate internal data structures in ways unintended by the authors. Malformed input may lead to crashes (with a buffer overflow or other memory corruption) or other unspecified behaviors. This crosses a privilege boundary in, for example, certain web-hosting environments in which a Control Panel allows an unprivileged user account to create subaccounts.

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-12424?

It affects 2 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `shadow` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP2 | All versions | 4.2.1-27.3.3 |
| `shadow` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP3 | All versions | 4.2.1-27.3.3 |
| `shadow` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2 | All versions | 4.2.1-27.3.3 |
| `shadow` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3 | All versions | 4.2.1-27.3.3 |
| `shadow` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for Raspberry Pi 12 SP2 | All versions | 4.2.1-27.3.3 |
| `shadow` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP2 | All versions | 4.2.1-27.3.3 |
| `shadow` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP3 | All versions | 4.2.1-27.3.3 |

Products: Debian Debian Linux, Shadow Project Shadow.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-12424?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2017-12424 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-12424 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-12424 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-12424 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 4 Aug 2017. 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-2017-12424 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. 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-2017-12424/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12424/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-12424
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-12424
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-12424

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12424/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.