Summary
Apache Traffic Control vulnerable to Slowloris-style Denial of Service attack
The Traffic Router component of the incubating Apache Traffic Control project is vulnerable to a Slowloris style Denial of Service attack. TCP connections made on the configured DNS port will remain in the ESTABLISHED state until the client explicitly closes the connection or Traffic Router is restarted. If connections remain in the ESTABLISHED state indefinitely and accumulate in number to match the size of the thread pool dedicated to processing DNS requests, the thread pool becomes exhausted. Once the thread pool is exhausted, Traffic Router is unable to service any DNS request, regardless of transport protocol.
Impact
Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service. Typical impact: denial of service.
CVE-2017-7670 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 (2.0.0, 2.1.0-RC1, 0.0.0-20170531185407-738c10fa1b58, 1.8.1, 1.1.4-0.20170531185407-738c10fa1b58); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
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. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
Already deployed Kodem?
See it in your environmentNew to Kodem? Get a demo →Remediation advice
github.com/apache/trafficcontrol to 2.0.0 or later; github.com/apache/trafficcontrol to 2.1.0-RC1 or later; github.com/apache/trafficcontrol to 0.0.0-20170531185407-738c10fa1b58 or later; github.com/apache/trafficcontrol to 1.8.1 or later; github.com/apache/trafficcontrol to 1.1.4-0.20170531185407-738c10fa1b58 or later
Kodem Kai can prioritize this vulnerability in your dependency tree and generate a fix recommendation.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2017-7670? CVE-2017-7670 is a high-severity uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability in github.com/apache/trafficcontrol (go), affecting versions >= 2.0.0-RC0, < 2.0.0. It is fixed in 2.0.0, 2.1.0-RC1, 0.0.0-20170531185407-738c10fa1b58, 1.8.1, 1.1.4-0.20170531185407-738c10fa1b58. Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service.
- How severe is CVE-2017-7670? CVE-2017-7670 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.
- Which versions of github.com/apache/trafficcontrol are affected by CVE-2017-7670? github.com/apache/trafficcontrol (go) versions >= 2.0.0-RC0, < 2.0.0 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2017-7670? Yes. CVE-2017-7670 is fixed in 2.0.0, 2.1.0-RC1, 0.0.0-20170531185407-738c10fa1b58, 1.8.1, 1.1.4-0.20170531185407-738c10fa1b58. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2017-7670 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2017-7670 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
- What actually determines whether CVE-2017-7670 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.
- How do I fix CVE-2017-7670?
- Upgrade
github.com/apache/trafficcontrolto 2.0.0 or later - Upgrade
github.com/apache/trafficcontrolto 2.1.0-RC1 or later - Upgrade
github.com/apache/trafficcontrolto 0.0.0-20170531185407-738c10fa1b58 or later - Upgrade
github.com/apache/trafficcontrolto 1.8.1 or later - Upgrade
github.com/apache/trafficcontrolto 1.1.4-0.20170531185407-738c10fa1b58 or later
- Upgrade