CVE-2017-5242

HIGHNVD 7.77.7—

7.7

Nexpose and InsightVM virtual appliances downloaded between April 5th, 2017 and May 3rd, 2017 contain identical SSH host keys. Normally, a unique SSH host key should be generated the first time a virtual appliance boots.

CVSS v3: 7.7
EG Score: 7.7(medium)
EPSS: 45.7%
KEV: Not listed

Published

January 12, 2023

Last Modified

April 8, 2025

References (2)

cve@rapid7https://www.rapid7.com/blog/post/2017/05/17/rapid7-nexpose-virtual-appliance-duplicate-ssh-host-key-cve-2017-5242/
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://www.rapid7.com/blog/post/2017/05/17/rapid7-nexpose-virtual-appliance-duplicate-ssh-host-key-cve-2017-5242/

Weakness Classification(2)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 8× in last 7d / 8× in last 30d)

Every time one of our enrichment pipelines (NVD, MITRE cvelistV5, EPSS, CISA KEV, GHSA, OSV, vendor advisories) ran against this CVE. Most recent first.

2026-05-27 13:38 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-27 13:38 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-26 13:42 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-26 13:42 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-26 07:17 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-26 07:17 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-25 08:43 UTCEG score recompute
2026-05-25 08:43 UTCGHSA enrichment

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2017-5242?

CVE-2017-5242 is a high vulnerability published on January 12, 2023. Nexpose and InsightVM virtual appliances downloaded between April 5th, 2017 and May 3rd, 2017 contain identical SSH host keys. Normally, a unique SSH host key should be generated the first time a virtual appliance boots.

When was CVE-2017-5242 disclosed?

CVE-2017-5242 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on January 12, 2023, with the most recent update on April 8, 2025. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.

Is CVE-2017-5242 actively exploited?

CVE-2017-5242 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 45.7% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2017-5242?

CVE-2017-5242 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.7 (NVD).

How do I remediate CVE-2017-5242?

Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2017-5242, 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

See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2017-5242

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CVE-2017-5242

📅 Published

🔄 Last Modified

🔗 References (2)