dbcve.org
Musical.lyApplication · Tiktok

CVE-2017-13101

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-08-15
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Musical.ly Inc., musical.ly - your video social network, 6.1.6, 2017-10-03, iOS application uses a hard-coded key for encryption. Data stored using this key can be decrypted by anyone able to access this key.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The Musical.ly iOS application (version 6.1.6) embeds a hard-coded encryption key directly in the application binary. This static key is used to encrypt sensitive data stored locally on the device. Anyone with access to the key (achievable through reverse engineering or binary analysis) can decrypt all data protected by this key, compromising user data confidentiality.

MitigationReplace the hard-coded encryption key with dynamic key management using iOS Keychain services or a proper key derivation function (KDF). Implement secure key generation, storage, and rotation mechanisms to ensure each installation uses a unique key.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Musical.lyApplication
Affected:= 6.1.6

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Musical.ly version
    On the iOS device, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage (or Apps), locate the Musical.ly app, and note the version number shown. Alternatively, if you have access to the installed .ipa file, inspect its Info.plist for CFBundleShortVersionString.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 6.1.6
  2. Locate the app binary
    If you have the .ipa file (extracted from the device or a local backup), unzip it and locate the main executable binary (typically named 'musical.ly' or 'musically' inside the Payload folder).
    Affected if You have access to the application binary for analysis
  3. Search for hardcoded key patterns in the binary
    Use a hex editor, strings command, or binary analysis tool (such as Hopper Disassembler, IDA Pro, or radare2) to extract readable strings from the app binary. Search for cryptographic key patterns such as: 16-byte or 32-byte hexadecimal sequences, Base64-encoded strings of appropriate length for encryption keys (16, 24, or 32 characters), or any static-seeming cryptographic material that appears repeatedly.
    Affected if A static, hardcoded encryption key is present in the binary that is used across multiple installations or sessions
  4. Verify presence of locally encrypted sensitive data
    Examine the app's data directory (in the device's file system under /var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/[AppGUID]/Documents or Library) for files that may contain encrypted user data such as authentication tokens, personal information, or private media.
    Affected if Encrypted local data files exist that are protected by the hardcoded key found in the binary

A user is affected if they have Musical.ly version 6.1.6 installed and the application binary contains a hardcoded encryption key that can decrypt locally stored sensitive data.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Replace the hard-coded encryption key with dynamic key management using iOS Keychain services or a proper key derivation function (KDF). Implement secure key generation, storage, and rotation mechanisms to ensure each installation uses a unique key.

Fix this in Musical.ly Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-13101 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-13101 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data