# CVE-2017-15272: Hardcoded credentials in n/a

> Attackers can extract cleartext user passwords from the PSFTPd configuration file due to hardcoded encryption keys and lack of password protection.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 15 Nov 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jc82-2cpg-hfg5

## What is CVE-2017-15272?

CVE-2017-15272 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Nov 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The PSFTPd 10.0.4 Build 729 server stores its configuration inside PSFTPd.dat. This file is a Microsoft Access Database and can be extracted. The application sets the encrypt flag with the password "ITsILLEGAL"; however, this password is not required to extract the data. Cleartext is used for a user password.

Weakness: CWE-522 (Insufficiently Protected Credentials), CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-15272?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Psftp Psftpd.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-15272?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-15272 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-15272 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-15272 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2017-15271](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15271/): Use after free in n/a (medium 5.9)
- [CVE-2017-15270](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15270/): Other in n/a (medium 5.3)
- [CVE-2017-15269](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15269/): Server-side request forgery in n/a (medium 4.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-15272 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-15272 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Nov 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-15272 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2017-15272/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15272/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-15272
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-15272
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-15272

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15272/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.