CVE-2017-12635
CRITICALEPSS 100th pctlDescription
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.
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Very high risk: more likely to be exploited than 100% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2022-24637 | Critical | 9.8 | 99% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-5689 | Critical | 9.8 | 92% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2020-3243 | Critical | 9.8 | 88% | - | - |
| CVE-2024-21888 | High | 8.8 | 87% | - | - |
| CVE-2022-0441 | Critical | 9.8 | 85% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2014-1511 | Critical | 9.8 | 84% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2017-12635?
Upgrade couchdb to 1.7.0 or later.
Is CVE-2017-12635 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2017-12635 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 99.8% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 100% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2017-12635?
CVE-2017-12635 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8, rated critical. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2017-12635 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for couchdb (NVD). Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-05-13.