Qnx Software Development PlatformApplication · Blackberry

CVE-2017-3891

CRITICAL · 9.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2017-11-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
No privileges 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
In BlackBerry QNX Software Development Platform (SDP) 6.6.0, an elevation of privilege vulnerability in the default configuration of the QNX SDP with QNet enabled on networks comprising two or more QNet nodes could allow an attacker to access local and remote files or take ownership of files on other QNX nodes regardless of permissions by executing commands targeting arbitrary nodes from a secondary QNX 6.6.0 QNet node.

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 confidence

This is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in QNX SDP 6.6.0 where the QNet networking component in its default configuration allows a user on one QNet node to execute commands on other nodes with elevated privileges, enabling unauthorized access to local and remote files and allowing file ownership takeover regardless of actual permission settings.

MitigationDisable QNet if not required, implement network segmentation to restrict QNet traffic to trusted nodes only, and apply any available vendor patches for QNX SDP 6.6.0.

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
Qnx Software Development PlatformApplication
Affected:= 6.6.0

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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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. Confirm QNX SDP version
    Run 'uname -v' or check system information to identify if the installed version is QNX Software Development Platform 6.6.0
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 6.6.0 of Blackberry QNX Software Development Platform
  2. Identify if QNet is running
    Check for running QNet processes using 'pidin ar' or 'netstat -an' looking for QNet-related network listeners, or query the system for loaded networking modules
    Affected if QNet (qnet) process or service is actively running on the system
  3. Verify QNet default configuration
    Examine QNet configuration files in /etc or /proc/boot for QNet settings, or check if QNet was started without explicit security restrictions using 'ls -la /etc/system/config/' or similar configuration paths
    Affected if QNet is enabled with default configuration settings (no access controls or node restrictions configured)
  4. Check network exposure
    Review network interfaces and firewall rules to determine if QNet traffic on port 8005 or QNet's default transport is permitted to untrusted network segments
    Affected if QNet traffic can reach or be received from untrusted or external network nodes

A system is affected if it runs QNX SDP 6.6.0 with QNet enabled in its default configuration, allowing potentially untrusted network nodes to execute commands with elevated privileges.

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

Disable QNet if not required, implement network segmentation to restrict QNet traffic to trusted nodes only, and apply any available vendor patches for QNX SDP 6.6.0.

Fix this in Qnx Software Development Platform Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,888.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-3891 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-3891 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