Incident: Hyundai's 2020 Sonata Recall Due to Remote Smart Parking Software Glitch

Published Date: 2020-04-17

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident with Hyundai's Remote Smart Parking Assistant occurred when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a new recall on April 17, 2020 [98397]. Therefore, the software failure incident happened in April 2020.
System 1. Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software [98397]
Responsible Organization 1. The software failure incident in the Hyundai vehicles was caused by a glitch in the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software [98397].
Impacted Organization 1. Hyundai (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) [98397]
Software Causes 1. The software glitch in the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) system caused the failure incident, leading to unintended vehicle movement [98397].
Non-software Causes 1. The failure incident was caused by the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software glitch, leading to unintended vehicle movement [98397].
Impacts 1. The software failure incident in Hyundai's Remote Smart Parking Assistant led to a recall of 11,870 vehicles in the US, including the brand-new 2020 Sonata sedan and the Nexo hydrogen fuel-cell crossover [98397]. 2. The failure of the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software to prevent vehicle movement upon detection of a malfunction increased the risk of a crash, highlighting a safety concern for the affected vehicles [98397].
Preventions 1. Regular and thorough software testing during the development phase to identify and address any glitches or malfunctions before the product is released to the market [98397].
Fixes 1. Hyundai dealers will reprogram the RSPA software free of charge to fix the software failure incident [98397].
References 1. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) [Article 98397]

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring one_organization (a) The software failure incident related to Hyundai's Remote Smart Parking Assistant has happened again within the same organization. The glitch in the software causing unintended vehicle movement was the reason for the recall affecting 11,870 Hyundai vehicles in the US, including the brand-new 2020 Sonata sedan and the Nexo hydrogen fuel-cell crossover [Article 98397]. This indicates a recurring issue with the software within Hyundai's products.
Phase (Design/Operation) design (a) The software failure incident in the article is related to the design phase. The glitch in the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software of Hyundai's vehicles caused the issue where the software may fail to prevent vehicle movement upon detection of an RSPA system malfunction. This failure was due to a flaw in the software design, which led to unintended vehicle movement and increased the risk of a crash [98397]. The fix for this issue involves reprogramming the RSPA software by Hyundai dealers to address the design-related glitch.
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system (a) within_system: The software failure incident related to the Hyundai's Remote Smart Parking Assistant was within the system. The glitch in the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software caused the issue where the car might keep on moving even when the system malfunctions. This failure originated from within the system itself, leading to the risk of unintended vehicle movement and potential crashes [98397].
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions, human_actions (a) The software failure incident in the Hyundai vehicles was due to a glitch in the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software, which caused the vehicles to keep moving even when the system detected a malfunction. This non-human action led to the risk of unintended vehicle movement and increased the potential for a crash [98397]. (b) The fix for the software failure incident involved Hyundai dealers reprogramming the RSPA software, indicating that human actions were required to address the glitch and prevent further issues with the system [98397].
Dimension (Hardware/Software) software (a) The software failure incident in the article is related to a glitch in the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software of Hyundai vehicles, which can cause unintended vehicle movement. This glitch is a contributing factor originating in the software itself, leading to the recall announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [Article 98397]. (b) The software failure incident is specifically attributed to the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software malfunction, indicating that the contributing factors leading to the failure originate in the software of the Hyundai vehicles [Article 98397].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) non-malicious (a) The software failure incident related to the Hyundai's Remote Smart Parking Assistant was non-malicious. The failure was due to a glitch in the software that caused unintended vehicle movement, increasing the risk of a crash. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) mentioned that the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software may fail to prevent vehicle movement upon detection of an RSPA system malfunction, leading to the recall of 11,870 Hyundai vehicles in the US [98397]. The fix for this issue involved reprogramming the RSPA software by Hyundai dealers, and the company stated that it was not aware of any crashes or injuries related to this problem.
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) unknown (a) The software failure incident related to the Hyundai's Remote Smart Parking Assistant was not due to poor decisions but rather a glitch in the software. The glitch caused the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software to fail to prevent vehicle movement upon detection of a system malfunction, increasing the risk of a crash. The fix for this issue involved reprogramming the RSPA software by Hyundai dealers [98397].
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) accidental (a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is not explicitly mentioned in the provided article. (b) The software failure incident related to accidental factors is highlighted in the article. The article mentions that the recall was announced due to a glitch in the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software, which could lead to unintended vehicle movement, increasing the risk of a crash. This glitch in the software was not intentional but accidental, leading to the need for reprogramming the software to address the issue [98397].
Duration temporary The software failure incident related to the Hyundai's Remote Smart Parking Assistant mentioned in Article 98397 is temporary. The article states that the issue with the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software may fail to prevent vehicle movement upon detection of a system malfunction, leading to unintended vehicle movement and an increased risk of a crash. However, the fix for this recall involves reprogramming the RSPA software by Hyundai dealers, indicating that the failure is temporary and can be rectified through software reprogramming [98397].
Behaviour crash, other (a) crash: The software failure incident in the article is related to a crash. The article mentions that the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software may fail to prevent vehicle movement upon detection of an RSPA system malfunction, increasing the risk of a crash [98397]. (b) omission: The software failure incident in the article is not related to omission. (c) timing: The software failure incident in the article is not related to timing. (d) value: The software failure incident in the article is not related to value. (e) byzantine: The software failure incident in the article is not related to byzantine behavior. (f) other: The software failure incident in the article is specifically described as a glitch in the software causing the car to keep moving, which aligns with the behavior of a crash [98397].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception processing_unit, embedded_software (a) The software failure incident related to the Hyundai's Remote Smart Parking Assistant was not specifically attributed to a sensor error. The issue mentioned in the article was related to the RSPA software failing to prevent vehicle movement upon detection of an RSPA system malfunction, which indicates a failure in the processing_unit or embedded_software rather than the sensor itself [98397].
Communication unknown The article does not provide specific details indicating whether the software failure incident related to Hyundai's Remote Smart Parking Assistant was specifically related to the communication layer of the cyber physical system that failed. Therefore, it is unknown whether the failure was at the link_level or connectivity_level.
Application TRUE The software failure incident related to the Hyundai's Remote Smart Parking Assistant, as reported in Article 98397, was indeed related to the application layer of the cyber physical system. The failure was attributed to a glitch in the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software, which caused the system to fail to prevent vehicle movement upon detection of a malfunction. This glitch falls under the category of failure due to contributing factors introduced by bugs and incorrect usage, which aligns with the definition of application layer failure in a cyber physical system [98397].

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence theoretical_consequence The consequence of the software failure incident related to the Hyundai's Remote Smart Parking Assistant was the risk of a crash due to unintended vehicle movement. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) mentioned that unintended vehicle movement increases the risk of a crash, which was the main concern of the software glitch. Fortunately, there were no reported crashes or injuries related to this problem [98397].
Domain transportation The software failure incident reported in Article #98397 is related to the transportation industry. The incident involves Hyundai's Remote Smart Parking Assistant system, which is designed to help vehicles park in tight spots. The glitch in the software of this system led to a recall of 11,870 Hyundai vehicles in the US, including the 2020 Sonata sedan and the Nexo hydrogen fuel-cell crossover. The malfunction in the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) software could result in unintended vehicle movement, increasing the risk of a crash [98397]. The fix for this issue involves reprogramming the RSPA software by Hyundai dealers, and the recall work is expected to begin on a specified date [98397].

Sources

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