# CVE-2017-8445: Security feature bypass in Elastic X-Pack Security

> A failure in TLS trust manager reloading allows any node with any certificate to join a cluster, bypassing security controls.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **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:** 18 Aug 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-fx8w-2fv7-5cq2

## What is CVE-2017-8445?

CVE-2017-8445 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Elastic X-Pack Security, published on 18 Aug 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An error was found in the X-Pack Security TLS trust manager for versions 5.0.0 to 5.5.1. If reloading the trust material fails the trust manager will be replaced with an instance that trusts all certificates. This could allow any node using any certificate to join a cluster. The proper behavior in this instance is for the TLS trust manager to deny all certificates.

Weakness: CWE-295 (Improper Certificate Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-8445?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Elastic X-Pack.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-8445?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-8445 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-8445 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-8445 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Elastic X-Pack Security

- [CVE-2018-3822](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-3822/): Auth bypass in X-Pack Security (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-8448](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-8448/): Privilege escalation in Elastic X-Pack Alerting (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2017-8438](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-8438/): Privilege escalation in X-Pack Security (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2017-8450](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-8450/): Missing authorization in Elastic X-Pack Security (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2017-8447](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-8447/): Privilege escalation in Elastic X-Pack Security (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-8445 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-8445 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Elastic X-Pack Security, published on 18 Aug 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-2017-8445 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Elastic X-Pack Security. 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-2017-8445/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-8445/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-8445
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-8445
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-8445

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-8445/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.