CVE-2017-18191

OpenStack Nova Denial of service attack on the compute host

An issue was discovered in OpenStack Nova 15.x through 15.1.0 and 16.x through 16.1.1. By detaching and reattaching an encrypted volume, an attacker may access the underlying raw volume and corrupt the LUKS header, resulting in a denial of service attack on the compute host. (The same code error also results in data loss, but that is not a vulnerability because the user loses their own data.) All Nova setups supporting encrypted volumes are affected.

CVE-2017-18191 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (15.1.1, 16.1.2); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

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1. What is CVE-2017-18191? CVE-2017-18191 is a high-severity security vulnerability in nova (pip), affecting versions >= 15.0.0, < 15.1.1. It is fixed in 15.1.1, 16.1.2.
2. How severe is CVE-2017-18191? CVE-2017-18191 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of nova are affected by CVE-2017-18191? nova (pip) versions >= 15.0.0, < 15.1.1 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2017-18191? Yes. CVE-2017-18191 is fixed in 15.1.1, 16.1.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2017-18191 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2017-18191 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2017-18191 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2017-18191?
   • Upgrade nova to 15.1.1 or later
   • Upgrade nova to 16.1.2 or later

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