How to Fix CVE-2017-6739: Buffer overflow in Universal Product

WARNING: This vulnerability is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-03). Federal civilian agencies must remediate by 2022-03-24. Treat it as active exploitation, not theoretical.

What is CVE-2017-6739?

A vulnerability in the SNMP implementation of could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause a reload of the affected system or to remotely execute code. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted SNMP packet to the affected device.  The vulnerability is due to a buffer overflow in the affected code area. The vulnerability affects all versions of SNMP (versions 1, 2c, and 3). The attacker must know the SNMP read only community string (SNMP version 2c or earlier) or the user credentials (SNMPv3).

Identify

Run the version check that matches your platform:

# Linux
dpkg -s universal 2>/dev/null | grep -i version
rpm -q universal 2>/dev/null
universal --version 2>/dev/null

Compare what you see against the Affected row above (IntelliShield Universal Product). If your build sits inside that range, you are exposed and should patch.

How to fix CVE-2017-6739

The primary fix is to upgrade Universal Product to the patched build. Use the commands for your platform below; the patched version listed in the vendor advisory is: See vendor advisory.

Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade universal
universal --version 2>/dev/null || dpkg -s universal | grep -i version

RHEL / CentOS / Rocky / AlmaLinux

sudo dnf upgrade --security universal -y
rpm -q universal

SUSE / openSUSE

sudo zypper patch --category security
rpm -q universal

Complete PowerShell remediation script (Windows)

# Fix script for CVE-2017-6739 affecting Universal Product
# Run as administrator. Detect -> backup -> upgrade -> verify -> log.

$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
$LogPath  = "C:\Logs\CVE-2017-6739-fix-$(Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd-HHmmss).log"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force (Split-Path $LogPath) | Out-Null
Start-Transcript -Path $LogPath -Append

try {
    Write-Host "[1/4] Detecting installed version of Universal Product"
    $pkg = winget list --id "Universal_Product" 2>$null
    Write-Host $pkg

    Write-Host "[2/4] Backing up configuration"
    $backup = "C:\Backup\Universal_Product-$(Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd)"
    New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force $backup | Out-Null
    Get-ChildItem "C:\ProgramData\Universal_Product" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
        Copy-Item -Destination $backup -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

    Write-Host "[3/4] Applying upgrade to latest"
    winget upgrade --id "Universal_Product" --silent --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements
    # Fallback: Windows Update for OS-level fixes
    if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
        Install-Module -Name PSWindowsUpdate -Force -SkipPublisherCheck -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
        Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate
        Install-WindowsUpdate -MicrosoftUpdate -AcceptAll -IgnoreReboot
    }

    Write-Host "[4/4] Verifying patched build"
    winget list --id "Universal_Product"
    Write-Host "Fix applied. Reboot if prompted."
    exit 0
} catch {
    Write-Error "Patch failed: $_"
    exit 1
} finally {
    Stop-Transcript
}

Complete Bash remediation script (Linux)

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Fix script for CVE-2017-6739 affecting Universal Product
# Detect -> backup -> upgrade -> verify -> log.

set -euo pipefail
LOG="/var/log/cve-2017-6739-fix-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).log"
exec > >(tee -a "$LOG") 2>&1

echo "[1/4] Detecting installed version"
if command -v dpkg >/dev/null; then
    dpkg -s universal 2>/dev/null | grep -i version || echo "universal not installed via dpkg"
elif command -v rpm >/dev/null; then
    rpm -q universal || echo "universal not installed via rpm"
fi

echo "[2/4] Backing up configuration"
BACKUP="/root/backup-cve-2017-6739-$(date +%Y%m%d)"
mkdir -p "$BACKUP"
for d in /etc/universal /etc/universal.d /etc/universal.conf; do
    [ -e "$d" ] && cp -a "$d" "$BACKUP/" || true
done

echo "[3/4] Applying upgrade (target: latest)"
if command -v apt-get >/dev/null; then
    apt-get update
    apt-get install --only-upgrade -y universal
elif command -v dnf >/dev/null; then
    dnf upgrade --security -y universal
elif command -v yum >/dev/null; then
    yum update -y universal
elif command -v zypper >/dev/null; then
    zypper --non-interactive patch --category security
fi

echo "[4/4] Verifying patched build"
if command -v dpkg >/dev/null; then
    dpkg -s universal 2>/dev/null | grep -i version
elif command -v rpm >/dev/null; then
    rpm -q universal
fi
echo "Done. Restart any running daemons that loaded the old library."

If you can't patch immediately

If you cannot apply the patched version today, restrict exposure with one of the following runnable controls. None replace the patch.

Network restriction (Linux, nftables)

# Block inbound traffic to the affected service from untrusted networks
sudo nft add table inet filter
sudo nft 'add chain inet filter input { type filter hook input priority 0 ; }'
sudo nft 'add rule inet filter input tcp dport {443, 80} ip saddr != 10.0.0.0/8 drop'
sudo nft list ruleset

Service-level fallback

# If the affected feature is optional, stop the service until the patch is applied
sudo systemctl stop universal
sudo systemctl disable universal

Resolve

# Linux
universal --version 2>/dev/null || dpkg -s universal | grep -i version
rpm -q universal 2>/dev/null || true

# Windows
winget list | findstr /I "universal"
Get-HotFix | Sort-Object InstalledOn -Descending | Select-Object -First 5

Expected: the reported version is at or above the patched build documented in the advisory. Restart any services that loaded the old library (systemctl restart <service> on Linux, restart the Windows service or reboot when prompted). For network appliances, run show version on the device and confirm the build matches the patched release.

Is CVE-2017-6739 actually being exploited?

According to the data sources above, yes, CISA has it listed as actively exploited. Either way, the fix is the same: apply the vendor patch.

Do I need to reboot after patching?

For OS or kernel updates, yes. For most userland packages a systemctl restart <service> is enough. Any process that loaded the old shared library keeps using it until restarted, so when in doubt, reboot.

What is the CVSS score?

8.8 (high). Refer to the vendor advisory for the exact vector string.

Where is the official advisory?

See the References section at the bottom of this page; the vendor's URL is the authoritative source for affected builds and patched versions.

References

• Official vendor advisory: https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20170629-snmp
• NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-6739
• CISA KEV catalog entry: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
• http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/99345
• http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1038808
• https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20170629-snmp
• https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2017-6739

Written by Sai Kiran Pandrala on 2026-05-25. Always confirm against the vendor's advisory before applying changes in production.

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