Incident: Power Steering Software Failure in 2017-2018 Porsche Panamera Recall

Published Date: 2018-12-21

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident with the power steering control in the 2017-2018 Porsche Panamera happened when Porsche issued a worldwide recall on December 21, 2018, as reported in Article 78923.
System 1. Power steering software in the 2017-2018 Porsche Panamera [78923]
Responsible Organization 1. Porsche [78923]
Impacted Organization 1. Owners of the 2017-2018 Porsche Panamera affected by the power steering software failure incident [78923].
Software Causes 1. The software controlling the car's power steering had a potential failure that could cause the power steering to disappear or kick in and out intermittently, leading to the need for extra force to maneuver the vehicle, increasing the risk of a collision [78923].
Non-software Causes 1. Lack of power steering control due to a potential software failure in the power steering system [78923].
Impacts 1. Increased risk of injury while driving at low speeds due to the power steering disappearing or kicking in and out intermittently, requiring drivers to exert extra force to maneuver the vehicle, potentially leading to a collision [78923].
Preventions 1. Implementing thorough software testing procedures before releasing the software to the market could have prevented the software failure incident [78923]. 2. Conducting rigorous quality assurance checks on the software controlling critical components like power steering could have identified the potential failure before it reached customers [78923].
Fixes 1. Applying a software fix that will eliminate the issue by Porsche's technicians, which should only take about an hour [78923].
References 1. Porsche's official statement regarding the recall [78923]

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring unknown (a) The software failure incident related to power steering control in Porsche vehicles does not mention any previous similar incidents within the same organization. (b) The article does not provide information about similar incidents happening at other organizations or with their products and services.
Phase (Design/Operation) design (a) The software failure incident in the Porsche Panamera's power steering system was due to a potential software failure in the field that may cause the power steering to disappear or kick in and out intermittently. This issue was related to the software controlling the car's power steering, indicating a failure introduced during the design or development phase of the system [78923]. (b) The article does not provide specific information indicating that the software failure incident was due to factors introduced by the operation or misuse of the system.
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system (a) The software failure incident related to the power steering issue in Porsche Panamera is within_system. The article mentions that the issue stems from the software controlling the car's power steering, indicating an internal system failure [78923].
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions, human_actions (a) The software failure incident in the Porsche Panamera was due to non-human actions. The issue stemmed from a potential software failure in the field that may cause the power steering to disappear or kick in and out intermittently. This indicates that the failure was a result of a glitch or fault in the software itself, rather than being introduced by human actions [78923]. (b) The fix for the software failure incident in the Porsche Panamera is entirely software-based. Porsche's technicians will apply a software fix to eliminate the issue, indicating that human actions are involved in resolving the software failure incident [78923].
Dimension (Hardware/Software) software (a) The software failure incident in the Porsche Panamera was due to a potential software failure in the field that may cause the power steering to disappear or kick in and out intermittently. This issue originates in the software controlling the car's power steering, not in the hardware of the vehicle [78923].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) non-malicious (a) The software failure incident described in Article 78923 is non-malicious. Porsche issued a worldwide recall for the 2017-2018 Porsche Panamera due to a potential software failure in the power steering control system. The issue could cause the power steering to disappear or kick in and out intermittently, leading to the need for extra force to maneuver the vehicle, increasing the risk of a collision. However, there were no reports of injuries related to this software bug, indicating that the failure was not due to malicious intent [78923].
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) accidental_decisions (a) The software failure incident in the article does not indicate any poor decisions as the cause of the issue. It is mentioned that the issue with the power steering software was a potential failure discovered in the field, which could cause the power steering to disappear or kick in and out intermittently, leading to the need for extra force to maneuver the vehicle [78923]. (b) The software failure incident in the article is more aligned with accidental decisions or mistakes rather than poor decisions. Porsche discovered a potential software failure that could impact the power steering system, leading to a recall of the affected vehicles. The fix for the issue is described as entirely software-based, indicating that the failure was not due to intentional poor decisions but rather an unintended software glitch [78923].
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) accidental (a) The software failure incident in the Porsche Panamera's power steering system was not attributed to development incompetence. The article does not mention any issues related to lack of professional competence by humans or the development organization [78923]. (b) The software failure incident in the Porsche Panamera's power steering system was accidental. Porsche discovered a potential software failure in the field that may cause the power steering to disappear or kick in and out intermittently. This accidental software bug could increase the risk of a collision, leading to the recall of approximately 75,000 vehicles worldwide [78923].
Duration temporary The software failure incident related to the Porsche Panamera's power steering issue was temporary. The article mentions that the issue with the power steering software may cause it to disappear or kick in and out intermittently, requiring the driver to exert extra force to maneuver the vehicle. This intermittent nature of the failure indicates that it was not a permanent failure but rather one that occurred under certain circumstances [78923].
Behaviour crash, other (a) crash: The software failure incident in the article is related to a crash behavior where the power steering system may disappear or kick in and out intermittently, leading to the driver needing to exert extra force to maneuver the vehicle, potentially increasing the risk of a collision [78923]. (b) omission: The software failure incident does not directly relate to omission as the issue is not about the system omitting to perform its intended functions but rather about the power steering system behaving erratically [78923]. (c) timing: The software failure incident is not about timing issues where the system performs its intended functions but at the wrong time; instead, it is about the power steering system malfunctioning [78923]. (d) value: The software failure incident is not about the system performing its intended functions incorrectly in terms of providing incorrect values or outputs but rather about the power steering system experiencing failures [78923]. (e) byzantine: The software failure incident does not exhibit byzantine behavior where the system behaves erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions; instead, it is focused on the power steering system failure [78923]. (f) other: The behavior of the software failure incident in the article is related to the power steering system experiencing intermittent failures, requiring drivers to exert extra force to maneuver the vehicle, potentially increasing the risk of a collision. This behavior is not specifically categorized under the options (a) to (e) but falls under a system malfunction affecting the power steering functionality [78923].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception embedded_software (a) The failure in the Porsche Panamera's power steering system was related to the embedded software controlling the car's power steering. Porsche discovered a potential software failure in the field that may cause the power steering to disappear or kick in and out intermittently, leading to the need for extra force to maneuver the vehicle [Article 78923].
Communication link_level The software failure incident reported in Article 78923 was related to the power steering control system of the 2017-2018 Porsche Panamera. The issue was specifically related to the software controlling the car's power steering, which was found to have a potential failure that could cause the power steering to disappear or kick in and out intermittently. This indicates that the failure was more likely at the link_level, involving the software controlling the physical layer of the power steering system rather than at the connectivity_level, which would involve network or transport layer issues [78923].
Application TRUE The software failure incident reported in Article 78923 was related to the application layer of the cyber physical system. The article mentions that the issue stemmed from the software controlling the car's power steering, indicating that the failure was due to contributing factors introduced by bugs or errors in the software application itself [78923].

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence unknown (a) death: People lost their lives due to the software failure (b) harm: People were physically harmed due to the software failure (c) basic: People's access to food or shelter was impacted because of the software failure (d) property: People's material goods, money, or data was impacted due to the software failure (e) delay: People had to postpone an activity due to the software failure (f) non-human: Non-human entities were impacted due to the software failure (g) no_consequence: There were no real observed consequences of the software failure (h) theoretical_consequence: There were potential consequences discussed of the software failure that did not occur (i) other: Was there consequence(s) of the software failure not described in the (a to h) options? What is the other consequence(s)? The consequence of the software failure incident in the reported article is that there was a risk of injury due to the power steering issue caused by the software failure in Porsche vehicles. However, there were no reports of injuries related to the software bug, indicating that no actual harm or death occurred as a direct result of the software failure incident [78923].
Domain transportation The software failure incident reported in Article 78923 is related to the transportation industry. The incident involves a potential software failure in the power steering system of Porsche Panamera vehicles, which could lead to the power steering disappearing or kicking in and out intermittently, affecting the maneuverability of the vehicle and potentially increasing the risk of a collision [78923]. The recall issued by Porsche to address this software issue highlights the importance of addressing software failures promptly to ensure the safety and functionality of vehicles in the transportation industry.

Sources

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