# CVE-2017-5186: Weak cryptography in NetIQ/Novell iManager and eDirectory

> Novell and NetIQ iManager and eDirectory use deprecated MD5 hashing in certificates, allowing potential cryptographic attacks.

- **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:** 27 Apr 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-v5pw-67rf-j965

## What is CVE-2017-5186?

CVE-2017-5186 is a high-severity vulnerability in Novell Edirectory, published on 27 Apr 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Novell iManager 2.7 before SP7 Patch 9, NetIQ iManager 3.x before 3.0.2.1, Novell eDirectory 8.8.x before 8.8 SP8 Patch 9 Hotfix 2, and NetIQ eDirectory 9.x before 9.0.2 Hotfix 2 (9.0.2.2) use the deprecated MD5 hashing algorithm in a communications certificate.

Weakness: CWE-327 (Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-5186?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Netiq Edirectory, Netiq Imanager, Novell Edirectory, Novell Imanager.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-5186?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-5186 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-5186 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-5186 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Novell Edirectory

- [CVE-2018-12461](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-12461/): Certificate Revocation Check failure (low 3.5)
- [CVE-2018-1346](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1346/): NetIQ eDirectory Denial of Service (low 3.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-5186 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-5186 is a high-severity vulnerability in Novell Edirectory, published on 27 Apr 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-2017-5186 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Novell Edirectory. 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-2017-5186/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-5186/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-5186
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-5186
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-5186

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-5186/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.