CVE-2017-2390
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. iOS before 10.3 is affected. macOS before 10.12.4 is affected. tvOS before 10.2 is affected. watchOS before 3.2 is affected. The issue involves symlink mishandling in the "libarchive" component. It allows local users to change arbitrary directory permissions via unspecified vectors.
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 confidenceA symlink mishandling vulnerability in the libarchive component allows local users to change arbitrary directory permissions. The issue stems from improper validation or handling of symbolic links during archive extraction, potentially enabling privilege escalation by manipulating directory permissions.
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<= 10.2.1<= 10.12.3<= 10.1.1<= 3.1.3CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 the Apple operating systemDetermine which Apple platform is running: iOS (iPhone), macOS (Mac), tvOS (Apple TV), or watchOS (Apple Watch). Each has different version checking methods.Affected if The device runs any of these Apple operating systems
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Check the installed iOS versionOn iPhone/iPad: Go to Settings > General > About and note the Version number. Compare it to 10.2.1 - versions 10.2.1 and below are affected.Affected if iOS version is 10.2.1 or lower
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Check the installed macOS versionOn Mac: Click the Apple menu > About This Mac. Note the version displayed (e.g., 10.12.3). Compare to 10.12.3 - versions 10.12.3 and below are affected.Affected if macOS version is 10.12.3 or lower
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Check the installed tvOS or watchOS versionOn Apple TV: Go to Settings > General > About > Version. On Apple Watch: Open the Watch app on iPhone > General > About. Compare to tvOS 10.1.1 and watchOS 3.1.3 thresholds.Affected if tvOS version is 10.1.1 or lower, or watchOS version is 3.1.3 or lower
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Confirm libarchive is in useThe vulnerability exists in the libarchive library used by system archive extraction features (e.g., Archive Utility, zip/tar handling). If your system processes archive files, the vulnerable code path may be exercised.Affected if Archive extraction features are used on an affected OS version
You are affected if your device runs iOS 10.2.1 or lower, macOS 10.12.3 or lower, tvOS 10.1.1 or lower, or watchOS 3.1.3 or lower, and the system has the ability to extract archive files containing symbolic links.
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 dataApply the vendor-supplied patches: update iOS to 10.3+, macOS to 10.12.4+, tvOS to 10.2+, and watchOS to 3.2+. Restrict local user privileges where possible to limit attack surface.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-2390 — 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-2017-2390 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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