CVE-2017-14491

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 9.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: CRITICAL) published 2022-04-30. NVD baseline CVSS 9.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
Weaponized
9.8
EchelonGraph verdictPatch this weekExploitation is likely or a public exploit exists.
  • High exploitation likelihood — EPSS 85%
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 85%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

A fix is available — apply it.

Heap-based buffer overflow in dnsmasq before 2.78 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) or execute arbitrary code via a crafted DNS response.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(medium)
EPSS
99.7%
KEV
Not listed

Published

October 4, 2017

Last Modified

May 13, 2026

Advisory Details (2)

Auto-updated May 17, 2026
⚠️ Active exploitation confirmed. No patch confirmed yet.
generic🔴 Active Exploitation
http://thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/CHANGELOG
generic

Packet Storm

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/144480/Dnsmasq-2-Byte-Heap-Based-Overflow.html

Patch Availability(8)

Vendor / EcosystemFixed in / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntudnsmasq-utils (2.76-5ubuntu0.1) @ zesty2026-05-20ubuntu
ubuntudnsmasq-base (2.59-4ubuntu0.3) @ precise2026-05-20ubuntu
redhatdnsmasq-0:2.45-2.el5_11.12017-10-02redhat
redhatdnsmasq-0:2.48-18.el6_92017-10-02redhat
redhatdnsmasq-0:2.48-16.el6_7.12017-10-02redhat
redhatdnsmasq-0:2.76-2.el7_4.22017-10-02redhat
redhatdnsmasq-0:2.66-21.el7_3.22017-10-02redhat
redhatdnsmasq-0:2.45-2.el5_9.12017-10-02redhat

Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.

All Vendor Advisories

(8)

Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 3× in last 7d / 16× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-04 06:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-06-27 03:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-19 14:55 UTCOSV refresh
  10. 2026-06-15 17:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-11 13:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-10 22:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 52 more
  1. 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-05-30 21:53 UTCOSV refresh
  6. 2026-05-29 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-05-20 11:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-05-20 11:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-05-20 08:46 UTCEG score recompute
  23. 2026-05-20 08:46 UTCVendor advisory
  24. 2026-05-20 08:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-05-20 05:02 UTCEG score recompute
  26. 2026-05-20 05:02 UTCVendor advisory
  27. 2026-05-20 05:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  28. 2026-05-20 01:18 UTCEG score recompute
  29. 2026-05-20 01:18 UTCVendor advisory
  30. 2026-05-20 01:18 UTCGHSA enrichment
  31. 2026-05-19 21:34 UTCEG score recompute
  32. 2026-05-19 21:34 UTCVendor advisory
  33. 2026-05-19 21:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  34. 2026-05-19 17:50 UTCEG score recompute
  35. 2026-05-19 17:50 UTCVendor advisory
  36. 2026-05-19 17:50 UTCGHSA enrichment
  37. 2026-05-19 14:06 UTCEG score recompute
  38. 2026-05-19 14:06 UTCVendor advisory
  39. 2026-05-19 14:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
  40. 2026-05-19 10:22 UTCEG score recompute
  41. 2026-05-19 10:22 UTCVendor advisory
  42. 2026-05-19 10:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  43. 2026-05-19 06:37 UTCEG score recompute
  44. 2026-05-19 06:37 UTCVendor advisory
  45. 2026-05-19 06:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
  46. 2026-05-19 02:53 UTCEG score recompute
  47. 2026-05-19 02:53 UTCVendor advisory
  48. 2026-05-19 02:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  49. 2026-05-18 23:10 UTCEG score recompute
  50. 2026-05-18 23:10 UTCVendor advisory
  51. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  52. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore

Publicly available exploits

(1 reference)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Exploit-DB entry). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • Exploit-DBEDB-42941✓ verified
    First seen Oct 2, 2017

    Dnsmasq < 2.78 - 2-byte Heap Overflow

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2017-14491?
CVE-2017-14491 is a critical vulnerability published on October 4, 2017. Heap-based buffer overflow in dnsmasq before 2.78 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) or execute arbitrary code via a crafted DNS response.
When was CVE-2017-14491 disclosed?
CVE-2017-14491 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on October 4, 2017, with the most recent update on May 13, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2017-14491 actively exploited?
CVE-2017-14491 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 99.7% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2017-14491?
CVE-2017-14491 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2017-14491?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2017-14491, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

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