# CVE-2017-16728: Null dereference in Advantech WebAccess

> An attacker can cause a program crash in Advantech WebAccess by triggering an untrusted pointer dereference, impacting system availability.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 5 Jan 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-m9r2-4rm8-4w6g

## What is CVE-2017-16728?

CVE-2017-16728 is a high-severity vulnerability in Advantech Webaccess, published on 5 Jan 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An Untrusted Pointer Dereference issue was discovered in Advantech WebAccess versions prior to 8.3. There are multiple vulnerabilities that may allow an attacker to cause the program to use an invalid memory address, resulting in a program crash.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference), CWE-822 (Untrusted Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-16728?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Advantech Webaccess.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-16728?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-16728 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-16728 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-16728 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Advantech Webaccess

- [CVE-2014-9208](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-9208/): Multiple stack-based buffer overflows in unspecified DLL files in Advantech WebAccess before 8.0.1 allow remote attackers to execute arbitra (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2021-33023](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-33023/): Advantech WebAccess (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-38389](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-38389/): Advantech WebAccess (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-38408](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-38408/): Memory corruption in Advantech WebAccess (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-12019](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12019/): Memory corruption in WebAccess Node (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-16728 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-16728 is a high-severity vulnerability in Advantech Webaccess, published on 5 Jan 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-16728 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Advantech Webaccess. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-16728/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-16728/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-16728
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16728
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-16728

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-16728/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.