# CVE-2017-15091: Missing authorization in PowerDNS Authoritative

> Attackers with valid credentials can perform state-changing operations like cache flushing despite read-only API configuration.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 23 Jan 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2017-15091, GHSA-c29m-p6xf-ppgw, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-15091

## What is CVE-2017-15091?

CVE-2017-15091 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in PowerDNS Authoritative, published on 23 Jan 2018. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue has been found in the API component of PowerDNS Authoritative 4.x up to and including 4.0.4 and 3.x up to and including 3.4.11, where some operations that have an impact on the state of the server are still allowed even though the API has been configured as read-only via the api-readonly keyword. This missing check allows an attacker with valid API credentials to flush the cache, trigger a zone transfer or send a NOTIFY.

Weakness: CWE-358 (Improperly Implemented Security Check for Standard), CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-15091?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Powerdns Authoritative.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-15091?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2017-15091 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-15091 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in PowerDNS Authoritative

- [CVE-2020-24698](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-24698/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-24696](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-24696/): Race condition in n/a (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2015-5470](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-5470/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2026-42001](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-42001/): Insufficient Validation of Autoprimary SOA Queries (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2020-24697](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-24697/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-15091 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-15091 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in PowerDNS Authoritative, published on 23 Jan 2018. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-15091 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: PowerDNS Authoritative. 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-2017-15091/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15091/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-15091
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-15091
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-15091

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15091/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.