# CVE-2017-2801: Other in Botan

> A flaw in Botan's X.509 string comparison allows attackers to bypass certificate verification using specially crafted certificates.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 24 May 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DLA-915-1, DSA-3939-1, GHSA-x8qg-whhh-m3ph, MGASA-2017-0327, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-2801

## What is CVE-2017-2801?

CVE-2017-2801 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Randombit Botan, published on 24 May 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A programming error exists in a way Randombit Botan cryptographic library version 2.0.1 implements x500 string comparisons which could lead to certificate verification issues and abuse. A specially crafted X509 certificate would need to be delivered to the client or server application in order to trigger this vulnerability.

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-2801?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Botan Project Botan.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-2801?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2017-2801 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-2801 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Randombit Botan

- [CVE-2021-24115](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-24115/): Information disclosure in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-9127](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-9127/): Security feature bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2015-7826](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-7826/): Security feature bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-6878](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6878/): Other in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-9132](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9132/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-2801 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-2801 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Randombit Botan, published on 24 May 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-2017-2801 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Randombit Botan. 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-2017-2801/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-2801/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-2801
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-2801
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-2801

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-2801/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.