CVE-2018-18203: Medium severity subaru starlink vulnerability

Published Nov 28, 2018
·
Updated

A vulnerability in the update mechanism of Subaru StarLink Harman head units 2017, 2018, and 2019 may give an attacker (with physical access to the vehicle's USB ports) the ability to rewrite the firmware of the head unit. This occurs because the device accepts modified QNX6 filesystem images (as long as the attacker obtains access to certain Harman decryption/encryption code) as a consequence of a bug where unsigned images pass a validity check. An attacker could potentially install persistent malicious head unit firmware and execute arbitrary code as the root user.

Affected Software

6 affected components
Subaru Starlink 2017 Firmware
Subaru Starlink 2017
Subaru Starlink 2018 Firmware
Subaru Starlink 2018
Subaru Starlink 2019 Firmware
Subaru Starlink 2019

Event History

Nov 28, 2018
CVE Published
via MITRE·11:00 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·11:00 PM
Description
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Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2018-18203?

The severity of CVE-2018-18203 is classified as medium, due to the risk it poses from physical access to the vehicle's USB ports.

2

How do I fix CVE-2018-18203?

To fix CVE-2018-18203, ensure that unauthorized physical access to the vehicle's USB ports is restricted and consider applying firmware updates from trusted sources.

3

What systems are affected by CVE-2018-18203?

CVE-2018-18203 affects Subaru Starlink Harman head units from the years 2017, 2018, and 2019.

4

Can an attacker exploit CVE-2018-18203 remotely?

No, CVE-2018-18203 requires physical access to the vehicle's USB ports for exploitation.

5

What kind of attack is possible with CVE-2018-18203?

An attacker could rewrite the firmware of the head unit using modified QNX6 filesystem images if they gain physical access.

Contact

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