CVE-2017-3225 | Das U-Boot's AES-CBC encryption feature uses a zero (0) initialization vector that may allow attacks against the underlying cryptographic implementation and allow an attacker to decrypt the data

Das U-Boot is a device bootloader that can read its configuration from an AES encrypted file. For devices utilizing this environment encryption mode, U-Boot's use of a zero initialization vector may allow attacks against the underlying cryptographic implementation and allow an attacker to decrypt the data. Das U-Boot's AES-CBC encryption feature uses a zero (0) initialization vector. This allows an attacker to perform dictionary attacks on encrypted data produced by Das U-Boot to learn information about the encrypted data.

Published: 2018-07-24 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2017-3225 is rated Low Risk (26.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.06%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2017-3225

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2023-03-07 0.89% 0.06% -0.82%
2 2022-02-04 0.62% 0.89% +0.26%
3 2021-04-14 0.62%

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2017-3225

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.6 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:P)
Hands-on access—USB, keyboard, opening the case—not something you do purely over the wire.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
0.9 3.6 [email protected]
2.1 2.0 LOW
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
3.9 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2017-3225

OS Trackers for CVE-2017-3225

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2017-3225 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (u-boot), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): open 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2017-3225
ubuntu negligible CVE-2017-3225 negligible priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (u-boot), 10 status rows across 10 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, disco, eoan, focal, trusty, upstream, xenial, zesty): ignored 5, not-affected 3, DNE 1, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-3225

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2017-3225

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
denx u-boot < 2017.09 cpe:2.3:a:denx:u-boot:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2017-3225

URL Tags
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/100675 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/166743 Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
cvelogic Threat Intelligence