KEV Intelligence

Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild High confidence Not in CISA KEV

CVE-2017-12635

Apache CouchDB Remote Code Execution

Apache Software Foundation / Apache CouchDB · 1.2.0 to 1.6.1

View live feed Monitor via API
Severity
CVSS 9.8 · Critical
Confidence
High
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
99.8%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2017-12635 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting Apache Software Foundation Apache CouchDB. Due to differences in the Erlang-based JSON parser and JavaScript-based JSON parser, it is possible in Apache...

Is it exploited?

Yes. KEV Intelligence tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is high.

Who is affected?

Apache Software Foundation / Apache CouchDB 1.2.0 to 1.6.1.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

Apache CouchDB Remote Code Execution

Due to differences in the Erlang-based JSON parser and JavaScript-based JSON parser, it is possible in Apache CouchDB before 1.7.0 and 2.x before 2.1.1 to submit _users documents with duplicate keys for 'roles' used for access control within the database, including the special case '_admin' role, that denotes administrative users. In combination with CVE-2017-12636 (Remote Code Execution), this can be used to give non-admin users access to arbitrary shell commands on the server as the database system user. The JSON parser differences result in behaviour that if two 'roles' keys are available in the JSON, the second one will be used for authorising the document write, but the first 'roles' key is used for subsequent authorization for the newly created user.

By design, users can not assign themselves roles. The vulnerability allows non-admin users to give themselves admin privileges.

Vendor Product Affected Status
Apache Software Foundation Apache CouchDB 1.2.0 to 1.6.1 Affected
Apache Software Foundation Apache CouchDB 2.0.0 to 2.1.0 Affected
View vendor advisory (opens in new tab)
Published
14 Nov 2017
Exploitation Reported
24 Apr 2025
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

java nuclei_scanner metasploit apache

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why KEV Intelligence marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

The Shadowserver

Recorded 24 Apr 2025

Independent exploitation attestation added to the KEV Intelligence record.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 07 Nov 2019

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the KEV Intelligence Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access
Source Added
The Shadowserver First 2025-04-25 00:00 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
0
User-Agents
0

Raw values available in Pro and Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No KEV Intelligence virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/http/apache_couchdb_cmd_exec.rb 28 Apr 2025
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2017/CVE-2017-12635.yaml 25 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.0

9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

99.8%

Weaknesses

Improper Privilege Management CWE-269

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.0 9.8 Critical

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 10.0 High

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

Apache CouchDB 1.7.0 / 2.x < 2.1.1 - Remote Privilege Escalation

nuclei · Created Unknown

apache_couchdb_cmd_exec

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2017-12635

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  2. Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  3. Added to KEV Intelligence KEV Feed

    High-confidence, third-party attested exploitation

  4. Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  5. CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  6. CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

View Pro pricing Read API docs
  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2017-12635

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2017-12635",
  "confidence": "High",
  "cvss_score": 9.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.99838,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}

Early warning alerts

Get alerts on high-impact exploitation

Receive curator-selected alerts when exploitation activity warrants attention. Each alert includes the evidence and context needed to decide what requires attention now.

Occasional high-impact alerts. Unsubscribe anytime. See our Privacy Policy.