Cyber Resilience

CVE-2017-8895

Memory Safety in Veritas Backup Exec ≤ 14.1.1786.1126

Public PoCHigh EPSSMemory Safety
Published
10 May 2017
Modified
13 May 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.71 99.3th percentile
Risk Priority 97 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2017-8895 is a critical-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Veritas Backup Exec. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.7% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In Veritas Backup Exec 2014 before build 14.1.1187.1126, 15 before build 14.2.1180.3160, and 16 before FP1, there is a use-after-free vulnerability in multiple agents that can lead to a denial of service or remote code execution. An unauthenticated attacker can…

more

use this vulnerability to crash the agent or potentially take control of the agent process and then the system it is running on.

CWE(s)
CWE-416

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
The vulnerability is a remotely exploitable use-after-free in a public-facing Backup Exec agent, directly enabling remote code execution via exploitation of a public-facing application.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalationconfidence: HIGH
Successful exploitation grants the attacker control of the agent process, enabling privilege escalation to the privileges of that process.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Executionconfidence: MEDIUM
The use-after-free can be triggered by client-side interaction with the agent, facilitating client-side exploitation.
attack.mitre.org →
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-1916Shared CWE-416
CVE-2025-1884Shared CWE-416
CVE-2024-56554Shared CWE-416
CVE-2026-9114Shared CWE-416
CVE-2023-35693Shared CWE-416
CVE-2023-42104Shared CWE-416
CVE-2021-21206Shared CWE-416
CVE-2024-47415Shared CWE-416
CVE-2023-26589Shared CWE-416
CVE-2025-47986Shared CWE-416

Affected Assets

veritas
backup exec
≤ 14.1.1786.1126 · ≤ 14.2.1180.3160 · ≤ 16.0.1142.1327

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

SI-16 Memory Protection
addresses: CWE-416

Use-after-free exploits that achieve arbitrary code execution are blocked or significantly hardened by non-executable pages and ASLR.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
detects

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

A.8.32 Change management partial match
prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

References