dbcve.org
Mate 9 FirmwareOperating system · Huawei

CVE-2017-17176

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-10-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
The hardware security module of Mate 9 and Mate 9 Pro Huawei smart phones with the versions earlier before MHA-AL00BC00B156, versions earlier before MHA-CL00BC00B156, versions earlier before MHA-DL00BC00B156, versions earlier before MHA-TL00BC00B156, versions earlier before LON-AL00BC00B156, versions earlier before LON-CL00BC00B156, versions earlier before LON-DL00BC00B156, versions earlier before LON-TL00BC00B156 has a arbitrary memory read/write vulnerability due to the input parameters validation. An attacker with the root privilege of the Android system could exploit this vulnerability to read and write memory data anywhere or execute arbitrary code in the TrustZone.

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

This is an input validation vulnerability in the hardware security module (TEE/TrustZone component) of Huawei Mate 9 and Mate 9 Pro smartphones. The flaw allows an attacker with Android root privileges to perform arbitrary memory read/write operations and execute arbitrary code within the TrustZone, bypassing security boundaries.

MitigationUsers should update their device firmware to version MHA-AL00BC00B156 or later (or the equivalent version for their specific model: MHA-CL00, MHA-DL00, MHA-TL00, LON-AL00, LON-CL00, LON-DL00, or LON-TL00). Enterprise organizations should inventory affected devices and deploy the update via MDM or OTA mechanisms.

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
Mate 9 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< mha-al00bc00b156< mha-cl00bc00b156< mha-dl00bc00b156< mha-tl00bc00b156
Mate 9 Pro FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< lon-al00bc00b156< lon-cl00bc00b156< lon-dl00bc00b156< lon-tl00bc00b156

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 checks

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

  1. Identify device model
    Check the device settings under Settings > About Phone > Model Number, or use ADB command: `adb shell getprop ro.product.model`
    Affected if Device is not a Huawei Mate 9 or Mate 9 Pro variant (mha-* or lon-*)
  2. Determine the specific model variant
    Check Settings > About Phone > HarmonyOS version or Android version, or use ADB: `adb shell getprop ro.product.device` to identify if it is mha-al00, mha-cl00, mha-dl00, mha-tl00 (Mate 9) or lon-al00, lon-cl00, lon-dl00, lon-tl00 (Mate 9 Pro)
    Affected if Model variant cannot be determined as one of the affected variants
  3. Check firmware build number
    Check Settings > About Phone > Build Number, or use ADB: `adb shell getprop ro.build.display.id`
    Affected if Build number cannot be retrieved or does not follow the format like mha-al00bc00b156
  4. Compare version against threshold
    Compare the build number prefix (model code + bc00b156) against the fixed version: for Mate 9 - mha-al00bc00b156, mha-cl00bc00b156, mha-dl00bc00b156, mha-tl00bc00b156; for Mate 9 Pro - lon-al00bc00b156, lon-cl00bc00b156, lon-dl00bc00b156, lon-tl00bc00b156. Use alphanumeric comparison (dictionary order).
    Affected if The firmware version is lexicographically lower than the threshold version for the specific model variant (for example, mha-al00bc00b135 is affected because b135 < b156)

The device is affected if it is a Huawei Mate 9 or Mate 9 Pro with a firmware build number that is lexicographically lower than the fixed version (bc00b156) for its specific model variant.

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

Users should update their device firmware to version MHA-AL00BC00B156 or later (or the equivalent version for their specific model: MHA-CL00, MHA-DL00, MHA-TL00, LON-AL00, LON-CL00, LON-DL00, or LON-TL00). Enterprise organizations should inventory affected devices and deploy the update via MDM or OTA mechanisms.

Fix this in Mate 9 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $3,050
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,880.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-17176 — 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-2017-17176 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