CVE-2017-13864
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in certain Apple products. iCloud before 7.2 on Windows is affected. iTunes before 12.7.2 on Windows is affected. The issue involves the "APNs Server" component. It allows man-in-the-middle attackers to track users by leveraging mishandling of client certificates.
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 confidenceThis vulnerability in the APNs Server component of iCloud and iTunes for Windows allows man-in-the-middle attackers to track users due to mishandling of client certificates. The issue stems from improper validation or storage of certificates used for Apple Push Notification service communication, enabling an attacker on the same network to identify and correlate user sessions.
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< 7.2< 12.7.2CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify iCloud for Windows installationOpen Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or check C:\Program Files\Apple Software Update for iCloud setup files. Alternatively, look for iCloud in the Windows Start menu and right-click to view Properties for version information.Affected if iCloud for Windows is installed with a version lower than 7.2
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Identify iTunes for Windows installationOpen Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or locate iTunes.exe (typically in C:\Program Files\iTunes or C:\Program Files (x86)\iTunes). Right-click iTunes and select Properties > Details to view the File Version.Affected if iTunes for Windows is installed with a version lower than 12.7.2
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Compare installed versions to affected rangesIf version numbers are found, compare iCloud version against < 7.2 and iTunes version against < 12.7.2 using standard version number comparison.Affected if Either iCloud is below version 7.2 or iTunes is below version 12.7.2
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Confirm APNs usage contextThe vulnerability affects APNs (Apple Push Notification service) communication. On Windows systems with affected iCloud or iTunes versions, this component is present and the vulnerability applies when these applications perform push notification operations.Affected if Affected iCloud or iTunes versions are installed and the APNs component is present on the Windows system
A Windows system is affected if it has iCloud for Windows below version 7.2 or iTunes for Windows below version 12.7.2 installed.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 data7.212.7.2
Update iCloud to version 7.2 or later and iTunes to version 12.7.2 or later on Windows systems to remediate the certificate mishandling vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-13864 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-13864 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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