CVE-2017-2488
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 · uneditedA cryptographic weakness existed in the authentication protocol of Remote Desktop. This issue was addressed by implementing the Secure Remote Password authentication protocol. This issue is fixed in Apple Remote Desktop 3.9. An attacker may be able to capture cleartext passwords.
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 confidenceA cryptographic weakness in Apple Remote Desktop's authentication protocol allowed attackers to capture cleartext passwords during the authentication process. The vulnerability was addressed by implementing the Secure Remote Password (SRP) authentication protocol in version 3.9.
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< 3.9CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/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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Confirm Apple Remote Desktop is installedCheck the /Applications folder for Apple Remote Desktop.app, or run: ls /Applications | grep -i 'remote desktop'Affected if The application exists in /Applications
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Determine the installed version of Apple Remote DesktopRight-click Apple Remote Desktop.app > Get Info, or inspect the app bundle's Info.plist for CFBundleShortVersionString, or check via System Preferences > Apple Remote Desktop > InfoAffected if A version number is found that is less than 3.9
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Verify the authentication protocol in useCheck Apple Remote Desktop settings in System Preferences > Remote Desktop, or inspect the client connection settings to confirm legacy authentication is enabledAffected if Remote Desktop client connections are allowed to legacy (non-SRP) authentication methods
If Apple Remote Desktop is installed with a version lower than 3.9 and legacy authentication is enabled, the environment is affected by this cleartext password capture vulnerability.
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.
dbcve · scoped3.9
Upgrade Apple Remote Desktop to version 3.9 or later to obtain the fixed SRP authentication implementation.
Apple Remote Desktop 3.9
- 1. Open the App Store on the Mac running Apple Remote Desktop
- 2. Click on the Updates tab to check for available updates
- 3. If Apple Remote Desktop 3.9 is available, click Update to download and install it
- 4. Alternatively, download Apple Remote Desktop 3.9 directly from the Apple Support website (support.apple.com)
- 5. Open the downloaded .dmg file and run the installer
- 6. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation
- 7. Restart the Remote Desktop service or reboot the Mac if prompted
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 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-2017-2488 — 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-2017-2488 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data