CVE-2018-11478
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 on Vgate iCar 2 Wi-Fi OBD2 Dongle devices. The OBD port is used to receive measurement data and debug information from the car. This on-board diagnostics feature can also be used to send commands to the car (different for every vendor / car product line / car). No authentication is needed, which allows attacks from the local Wi-Fi network.
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 Vgate iCar 2 Wi-Fi OBD2 Dongle exposes the OBD (On-Board Diagnostics) interface over an unencrypted, unauthenticated Wi-Fi connection. An attacker connected to the device's Wi-Fi network can send arbitrary OBD commands directly to the vehicle's ECU, potentially enabling unauthorized control of vehicle systems including engine, braking, and steering functions.
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 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
- Adjacent
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:A/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 Vgate iCar 2 device on the networkScan the local network for devices with manufacturer OUI matching Vgate or product name 'iCar 2' in DHCP leases or network scan resultsAffected if A device identified as Vgate iCar 2 Wi-Fi OBD2 dongle is present on the network
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Verify Wi-Fi encryption statusConnect to the device's Wi-Fi SSID and check the wireless security protocol using a Wi-Fi analyzer tool or by examining the connection properties; look for Open, WEP, or WPA (not WPA2) encryptionAffected if The device's Wi-Fi network uses no encryption (Open), WEP, or any WPA variant without strong authentication
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Test OBD command interface accessibilityConnect to the device's Wi-Fi network and attempt to send an OBD command (such as 'AT Z' or '0100') via TCP port 35000 or the device's configured OBD port without providing any credentialsAffected if OBD commands can be sent and responses received without requiring any authentication or authorization
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Check for application-layer authenticationAttempt to access any web interface or API endpoints provided by the device; try sending OBD commands through any companion mobile application without logging inAffected if The device accepts and executes OBD commands without any application-layer authentication or user verification
The environment is affected if a Vgate iCar 2 device is in use and its Wi-Fi network lacks strong encryption (WPA2) or the OBD interface accepts commands without authentication.
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 dataImplement WPA2 Wi-Fi authentication with strong credentials and add application-layer authentication for OBD command execution. Additionally, implement command validation whitelisting to restrict which OBD commands can be sent and consider network isolation measures.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-11478 — 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-2018-11478 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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