CVE-2017-7078
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 11 is affected. macOS before 10.13 is affected. The issue involves the "Mail Drafts" component. It allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information by reading unintended cleartext transmissions.
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 vulnerability in the Mail Drafts component allows remote attackers to intercept and read sensitive information from email drafts transmitted in cleartext. This affects iOS devices before version 11 and macOS systems before version 10.13. The issue stems from the Mail app transmitting draft emails without proper encryption, enabling man-in-the-middle attackers to access confidential content.
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<= 10.3.3<= 10.12.6CVSS 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
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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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Determine iOS version on iPhone or iPadGo to Settings > General > About and look at the Version fieldAffected if The version listed is 10.3.3 or lower (such as 10.3.2, 10.3.1, 10.x)
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Determine macOS version on MacClick the Apple menu > About This Mac and check the version number under macOSAffected if The version is 10.12.6 or lower (such as 10.12.5, 10.12.4, 10.x)
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Verify Mail app is in useConfirm the native Mail app is configured with at least one active email accountAffected if The Mail app is actively used with accounts that send email drafts
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Check SMTP outgoing mail server encryption settingsIn Mail app, go to Preferences > Accounts > select an account > Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) > click Advanced and inspect the 'Use TLS' or 'Use SSL' settingAffected if TLS/SSL is disabled or set to 'No' for the SMTP server configuration, allowing cleartext transmission of drafts
A user is affected if they run iOS 10.3.3 or earlier on iPhone/iPad, or macOS 10.12.6 or earlier on Mac, AND use the Mail app with SMTP configured to allow unencrypted connections for sending drafts.
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 dataEnable强制TLS encryption for all SMTP connections and ensure mail drafts are only transmitted over encrypted channels. Update affected devices to iOS 11 or later and macOS 10.13 or later.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-7078 — 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-2017-7078 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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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.
- 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