CVE-2017-6988
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. macOS before 10.12.5 is affected. The issue involves the "802.1X" component. It allows remote attackers to discover the network credentials of arbitrary users by operating a crafted network that requires 802.1X authentication, because EAP-TLS certificate validation mishandles certificate changes.
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 vulnerability in macOS 802.1X implementation allows remote attackers to capture network credentials by operating a malicious network access point that requires 802.1X authentication. The EAP-TLS certificate validation in the affected macOS versions improperly handles certificate changes, enabling an attacker to perform a man-in-the-middle attack and intercept authentication credentials during the EAP-TLS handshake.
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<= 10.12.4CVSS 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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Verify macOS versionRun 'sw_vers -productVersion' in Terminal or check About This Mac (Apple menu > About This Mac)Affected if Version is 10.12.4 or earlier (10.12.5 and later are patched)
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Identify 802.1X-enabled network interfacesOpen System Preferences > Network, select each active interface (Wi-Fi or Ethernet), and check if 802.1X is configured in the interface settingsAffected if Any network interface has 802.1X authentication enabled and is active
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Confirm EAP-TLS is the authentication methodIn System Preferences > Network > [Interface] > 802.1X, inspect the enabled authentication protocols; look for EAP-TLS listed as an active methodAffected if EAP-TLS is among the enabled authentication protocols for the interface
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Inspect 802.1X configuration via command lineRun 'sudo networksetup -listallnetworkservices' to see network services, then 'sudo networksetup -getinfo 802.1X' for a specific service, or examine /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.network.eapolconfiguration.plist if it existsAffected if 802.1X configuration exists and uses certificate-based authentication
You are affected if your macOS version is 10.12.4 or earlier AND you have 802.1X with EAP-TLS enabled on an active network interface.
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 dataUpgrade macOS to version 10.12.5 or later. Until patched, avoid connecting to untrusted networks requiring 802.1X authentication, or temporarily disable 802.1X in network settings for high-risk environments.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-6988 — 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-2017-6988 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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