# CVE-2018-17178: Missing authorization in n/a

> Attackers can execute unauthenticated drive commands on Neato Botvac robots if an active session exists, bypassing authorization checks.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **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:** 18 Sep 2018
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-486g-rgjg-jqcq

## What is CVE-2018-17178?

CVE-2018-17178 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in n/a, published on 18 Sep 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue was discovered on Neato Botvac Connected 2.2.0 devices. They execute unauthenticated manual drive commands (sent to /bin/webserver on port 8081) if they already have an active session. Commands like forward, back, arc-left, arc-right, pivot-left, and pivot-right are executed even though the web socket replies with { "message" : "invalid authorization header" }. Without an active session, commands are still interpreted, but (except for eco-on and eco-off) have no effect, since without active driving, a driving direction does not change anything.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-17178?

It affects 5 products.


Products: Neatorobotics Botvac D3 Connected Firmware, Neatorobotics Botvac D4 Connected Firmware, Neatorobotics Botvac D5 Connected Firmware, Neatorobotics Botvac D6 Connected Firmware, Neatorobotics Botvac D7 Connected Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-17178?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-17178 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-17178 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-17178 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-17178 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-17178 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in n/a, published on 18 Sep 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-2018-17178 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2018-17178/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17178/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-17178
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-17178
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-17178

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17178/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.