Incident: Faulty ABS Software Leads to Dodge and Ram Vehicle Recall

Published Date: 2022-03-16

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident involving faulty antilock brake control module software in Dodge and Ram vehicles happened when the article was published on 2022-03-16 [125943]. Therefore, the software failure incident occurred before March 16, 2022.
System 1. Antilock brake control module software [125943]
Responsible Organization 1. The software failure incident in this case was caused by faulty antilock brake control module software, affecting Dodge and Ram vehicles [125943].
Impacted Organization 1. Owners of 2019-2022 Ram 2500 and Ram 3500 cab chassis with GVWR less than 10,000 pounds as well as 2021-2022 Dodge Durangos were impacted by the software failure incident [125943].
Software Causes 1. The software cause of the failure incident was identified as faulty antilock brake control module software [125943].
Non-software Causes 1. Faulty antilock brake control module (Article 125943)
Impacts 1. The software failure incident led to the stability control warning lights not illuminating properly in 370,437 vehicles, increasing the risk of a crash [125943].
Preventions 1. Regular software testing and quality assurance processes during the development phase could have potentially identified the faulty antilock brake control module software before it was deployed in the vehicles [125943]. 2. Implementing robust software update mechanisms that allow for timely and efficient distribution of software patches could have prevented the issue from affecting a large number of vehicles [125943].
Fixes 1. The fix for the software failure incident involving the faulty antilock brake control module software in Dodge and Ram vehicles is updating the ABS software, which will be performed free of charge by Dodge or Ram dealers [125943].
References 1. FCA US's customer service department [125943]

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring unknown (a) The software failure incident related to faulty antilock brake control module software affecting Dodge and Ram vehicles is specific to these brands. There is no mention in the article of a similar incident happening before within the same organization (FCA US) or with its products and services. (b) The article does not mention any similar incident happening at other organizations or with their products and services.
Phase (Design/Operation) design (a) The software failure incident in this case is attributed to a design issue. The root cause of the problem with the stability control warning lights not illuminating properly in Dodge and Ram vehicles is identified as faulty antilock brake control module software. This indicates that the issue was introduced during the system development phase [125943].
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system (a) The software failure incident described in the article is within_system. The root cause of the issue with the stability control warning lights not illuminating properly in Dodge and Ram vehicles is attributed to faulty antilock brake control module software [125943]. The fix for this problem involves updating the ABS software, indicating that the issue originates from within the system itself.
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions (a) The software failure incident in this case is attributed to a faulty antilock brake control module software, indicating a non-human_actions related failure [125943]. The issue with the stability control warning lights not illuminating properly was caused by the software glitch, which is a non-human factor introduced during the software development or integration process.
Dimension (Hardware/Software) hardware, software (a) The software failure incident in this case is due to contributing factors that originate in hardware. The article mentions that the root cause of the issue with the stability control warning lights not illuminating properly is a faulty antilock brake control module software [125943]. This indicates that the software issue is a result of a hardware problem within the antilock brake control module.
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) non-malicious (a) The software failure incident described in Article 125943 is non-malicious. The root cause of the issue was identified as faulty antilock brake control module software, indicating that the failure was not due to malicious intent but rather a technical flaw in the software itself. The fix for the problem involves updating the ABS software, and the recall work will be performed free of charge to address the issue [125943].
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) unknown The software failure incident related to the Dodge and Ram vehicle recall due to faulty antilock brake control module software does not indicate any specific information about poor decisions or accidental decisions contributing to the failure. Therefore, the intent behind the software failure incident in this case is unknown. [125943]
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) accidental (a) The software failure incident in this case appears to be accidental rather than due to development incompetence. The root cause of the issue was identified as faulty antilock brake control module software, indicating a technical flaw rather than a lack of professional competence during development [125943].
Duration temporary The software failure incident described in Article 125943 is temporary. The article mentions that the issue with the stability control warning lights not illuminating properly is due to faulty antilock brake control module software. The fix for this problem involves updating the ABS software, indicating that the failure is not permanent but can be rectified through a software update [125943].
Behaviour crash (a) The software failure incident mentioned in Article 125943 is related to a crash. The article states that the vehicles are being recalled because they have stability control warning lights that might not illuminate properly, thereby increasing the risk of a crash. This indicates a failure due to the system losing its state and not performing its intended function, which in this case is to properly illuminate the stability control warning lights, leading to a potential crash [125943].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception None None
Communication None None
Application None None

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence property, non-human (a) death: There is no mention of any deaths resulting from the software failure incident in the article [125943]. (b) harm: There is no mention of any physical harm caused to individuals due to the software failure incident in the article [125943]. (c) basic: There is no mention of people's access to food or shelter being impacted by the software failure incident in the article [125943]. (d) property: The software failure incident involving faulty antilock brake control module software in Dodge and Ram vehicles impacted the warning lights' illumination, increasing the risk of a crash [125943]. This could potentially lead to property damage if a crash occurs. (e) delay: There is no mention of people having to postpone an activity due to the software failure incident in the article [125943]. (f) non-human: The software failure incident affected vehicles, specifically the stability control warning lights in Dodge and Ram vehicles, due to faulty antilock brake control module software [125943]. (g) no_consequence: The article does not mention that there were no real observed consequences of the software failure incident [125943]. (h) theoretical_consequence: The article does not discuss potential consequences that did not occur as a result of the software failure incident [125943]. (i) other: There is no mention of any other specific consequences of the software failure incident in the article [125943].
Domain transportation (a) The failed system in this incident was related to the transportation industry. The software failure affected a significant number of vehicles from Dodge and Ram, leading to a recall due to stability control warning lights not illuminating properly, which could increase the risk of a crash [125943].

Sources

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