# CVE-2018-1170: Security feature bypass in Volkswagen Customer-Link App

> Adjacent attackers can inject arbitrary CAN messages by bypassing firmware update protections in the Volkswagen Customer-Link App.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 2 Mar 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8q3v-4vc2-wr4g

## What is CVE-2018-1170?

CVE-2018-1170 is a high-severity vulnerability in Volkswagen Customer-Link App, published on 2 Mar 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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.

Weakness: CWE-693 (Protection Mechanism Failure)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-1170?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Htc Customer-Link Bridge, Volkswagen Customer-Link.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-1170?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-1170 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-1170 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-1170 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-1170 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-1170 is a high-severity vulnerability in Volkswagen Customer-Link App, published on 2 Mar 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-1170 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Volkswagen Customer-Link App. 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-2018-1170/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1170/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-1170
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-1170
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-1170

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1170/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.