CVE-2017-9663
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 Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information issue was discovered in General Motors (GM) and Shanghai OnStar (SOS) SOS iOS Client 7.1. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may allow a remote attacker to access an encryption key that is stored in cleartext in memory.
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 confidenceThe GM and Shanghai OnStar SOS iOS Client 7.1 stores an encryption key in cleartext within the application's memory. A remote attacker who can access the device or intercept memory contents could retrieve this plaintext key and use it to decrypt sensitive communications or data protected by that key.
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= 7.1CVSS 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:3.0/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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Verify OnStar app versionCheck if the GM Shanghai OnStar SOS iOS Client is installed and note its version number (typically found in iOS Settings > General > iPhone Storage > OnStar, or in the App Store listing)Affected if The installed version is exactly 7.1 (note: only version 7.1 is affected; other versions may have different behavior)
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Identify key storage locationExamine the application binary or runtime memory for patterns indicating stored encryption key material - look for cryptographic key structures or key derivation code in the app's compiled code or memory space during operationAffected if Cleartext encryption key material is found stored directly in memory without obfuscation or key derivation at runtime
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Check for key derivation implementationReview the app's code (if you have access to the binary) or analyze runtime behavior to determine whether keys are derived at runtime or retrieved from secure storage such as iOS KeychainAffected if The app retrieves a pre-stored key from memory rather than deriving it dynamically or accessing it from Keychain with appropriate protection class
A user is affected if they have version 7.1 of the GM Shanghai OnStar SOS iOS Client installed and the app contains cleartext encryption keys in its memory or binary
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 dataReplace cleartext in-memory key storage with iOS Keychain using a strong protection class (kSecAttrAccessibleWhenUnlockedThisDeviceOnly) or implement secure key derivation at runtime rather than storing the key directly. Ensure keys are never persisted to disk in plaintext.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,960.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-9663 — 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-2017-9663 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