CVE-2017-2448
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. The issue involves the "Keychain" component. It allows man-in-the-middle attackers to bypass an iCloud Keychain secret protection mechanism by leveraging lack of authentication for OTR packets.
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 confidenceThe iCloud Keychain synchronization mechanism lacks proper authentication for OTR (Off-The-Record) packets, allowing man-in-the-middle attackers to bypass secret protection and intercept or manipulate keychain data during sync operations.
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
- 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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Check the installed iOS versionOn the iOS device, go to Settings > General > About and note the version number shown next to 'Version'.Affected if The version is 10.2.1 or lower.
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Check the installed macOS versionOn the Mac, click the Apple menu > About This Mac and note the version number displayed under the macOS name.Affected if The version is 10.12.3 or lower.
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Check the installed tvOS versionOn the Apple TV, go to Settings > About > Version and note the version number.Affected if The version is 10.1.1 or lower.
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Check the installed watchOS versionOn the Apple Watch, open the Watch app on the paired iPhone, go to General > About, and note the watchOS version.Affected if The version is 3.1.3 or lower.
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Verify iCloud Keychain sync is enabledOn iOS: Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Keychain (or Settings > Passwords & Accounts > iCloud > Keychain). On macOS: System Preferences > iCloud > Keychain. Confirm the Keychain toggle is turned ON.Affected if iCloud Keychain sync is enabled and the OS version falls within the affected ranges listed above.
You are affected if your device runs an OS version at or below the affected thresholds AND has iCloud Keychain synchronization turned on, as the vulnerability only applies when keychain sync is active.
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 dataUpdate to iOS 10.3+, macOS 10.12.4+, or tvOS 10.2+ to receive the patched versions that properly authenticate OTR packets during keychain synchronization.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-2448 — 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-2017-2448 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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