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Customer Link BridgeApplication · Htc

CVE-2018-1170

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-03-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
93/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
This vulnerability allows adjacent attackers to inject arbitrary Controller Area Network messages on vulnerable installations of Volkswagen Customer-Link App 1.30 and HTC Customer-Link Bridge. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the Customer-Link App and Customer-Link Bridge. The issue results from the lack of a proper protection mechanism against unauthorized firmware updates. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to inject CAN messages. Was ZDI-CAN-5264.

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 confidence

The vulnerability exists in the Volkswagen Customer-Link App 1.30 and HTC Customer-Link Bridge due to missing authentication controls on the firmware update mechanism. Adjacent attackers can exploit this flaw to inject arbitrary CAN messages without any authentication, allowing potential manipulation of vehicle communication bus data.

MitigationImplement cryptographic authentication and validation for all firmware updates, ensuring only signed and verified firmware can be applied to the device.

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
Customer Link BridgeApplication
Affected:all versions
Customer LinkApplication
Affected:= 1.30

CVSS 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:3.1/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the Customer-Link app version
    Check the installed version of the Volkswagen Customer-Link app on the mobile device. On Android, go to Settings > Apps > Customer-Link > Version. On iOS, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Customer-Link to view version info.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 1.30, indicating the specific affected version.
  2. Identify the HTC Customer-Link Bridge device
    Inspect the physical device connected to the vehicle OBD-II port. Look for a device labeled 'HTC Customer Link Bridge' or 'Customer Link Bridge' with HTC branding.
    Affected if The device is an HTC Customer-Link Bridge, as all versions of this device are affected.
  3. Verify firmware update mechanism accessibility
    Attempt to access the firmware update interface through the companion mobile app or device settings. Check if the update process requests any authentication credentials such as PIN, password, or digital certificate before allowing firmware updates.
    Affected if The firmware update mechanism can be accessed and initiated without requiring any authentication credentials.
  4. Check network exposure of the device
    Verify the network configuration of the Customer-Link Bridge device. Check if it is connected to an unprotected Wi-Fi network or Bluetooth pairing that allows nearby devices to communicate with it without pairing restrictions.
    Affected if The device is accessible to adjacent (physically nearby) attackers due to lack of network isolation or Bluetooth authentication requirements.

A defender is affected if they have either the Volkswagen Customer-Link app version 1.30 or an HTC Customer-Link Bridge device, AND the firmware update process lacks authentication controls that would prevent an adjacent attacker from injecting unauthorized CAN messages.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement cryptographic authentication and validation for all firmware updates, ensuring only signed and verified firmware can be applied to the device.

Fix this in Customer Link Bridge Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
56.0 hours of engineering $9,760
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-1170 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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