CVE-2017-14453
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 · uneditedOn Insteon Hub 2245-222 devices with firmware version 1012, specially crafted replies received from the PubNub service can cause buffer overflows on a global section overwriting arbitrary data. An attacker should impersonate PubNub and answer an HTTPS GET request to trigger this vulnerability. A strcpy overflows the buffer insteon_pubnub.channel_ad_r, which has a size of 16 bytes. An attacker can send an arbitrarily long "ad_r" parameter in order to exploit this vulnerability.
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 · moderate confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in Insteon Hub 2245-222 firmware 1012 where strcpy copies an attacker-controlled 'ad_r' parameter from PubNub HTTPS responses into a fixed 16-byte buffer (insteon_pubnub.channel_ad_r). An attacker who impersonates PubNub can send arbitrarily long values to overflow the buffer and overwrite adjacent global section data.
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= 1012CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 the device modelLocate the Insteon Hub 2245-222 device in your network inventory or physically inspect the device label to confirm the model number is exactly 2245-222Affected if The device is an Insteon Hub 2245-222
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Check the installed firmware versionAccess the Insteon Hub web interface or mobile app and navigate to Settings > Device Info to view the firmware versionAffected if The firmware version is exactly 1012
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Verify PubNub integration is activeCheck the Insteon Hub configuration for active PubNub channel subscriptions, typically found in the app or web portal under linked servicesAffected if PubNub messaging is enabled and configured for the hub
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Assess network exposure to MITMReview network segmentation and determine if the hub communicates over trusted networks or is accessible to untrusted parties who could intercept traffic to PubNub serversAffected if The device is on a network where an attacker could perform man-in-the-middle against PubNub HTTPS connections
You are affected if you have an Insteon Hub 2245-222 running firmware version 1012 with PubNub enabled and the device is on a network where it could be intercepted by an attacker.
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 dataNetwork isolate the device to prevent attacker-in-the-middle attacks against PubNub communications; if available, apply vendor firmware update; otherwise consider device replacement as this is a legacy IoT device likely past support life cycle.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-14453 — 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-2017-14453 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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