CVE-2017-9853
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 SMA Solar Technology products. All inverters have a very weak password policy for the user and installer password. No complexity requirements or length requirements are set. Also, strong passwords are impossible due to a maximum of 12 characters and a limited set of characters. NOTE: the vendor reports that the 12-character limit provides "a very high security standard." Also, only Sunny Boy TLST-21 and TL-21 and Sunny Tripower TL-10 and TL-30 could potentially be affected
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 confidenceSMA Solar inverters (Sunny Boy TLST-21, TL-21, Sunny Tripower TL-10, TL-30) enforce a maximum 12-character password with no complexity requirements and a restricted character set, making credentials highly vulnerable to brute-force attacks.
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 dataall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify SMA Solar inverter models on your networkLocate and inventory all network-connected solar inverters. Look for device型号 including: Sunny Boy 3600, Sunny Boy 5000, Sunny Tripower Core1, Sunny Tripower 15000tl/20000tl/25000tl/5000tl/12000tl. Check your asset inventory, network scans, or physical device labels.Affected if Any of these specific SMA inverter models are present on the network
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Verify web interface accessibilityAttempt to access the device web management interface via HTTP/HTTPS on common ports (80, 443, 8080). Check if the SMA Sunny Portal or device configuration page is reachable.Affected if The web management interface is exposed and accessible
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Check password policy configurationIf you have admin access to the device web interface, navigate to the user account or security settings section. Look for password length limits, complexity requirements, or character set restrictions during password creation or change.Affected if Password policy shows a maximum of 12 characters or no complexity requirements are enforced
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Review current user accountsAccess the user management section of the device interface and list all configured user accounts. Note the password configuration for each account.Affected if User accounts exist with passwords that may be limited to 12 characters or a restricted character set
If any SMA Solar inverter model from the affected list (Sunny Boy 3600/5000 or Sunny Tripower variants) is present and its web interface is accessible, the environment is likely affected by this weak password policy 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.
From vendor dataApply compensating controls: isolate affected devices on a restricted network segment, implement additional authentication layers (e.g., VPN), and monitor for authentication anomalies; pursue vendor firmware update when available.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-9853 — 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-2017-9853 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
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