CVE-2022-31269
Published: 25 August 2022
Summary
CVE-2022-31269 is a high-severity Use of Hard-coded Credentials (CWE-798) vulnerability in Nortekcontrol Emerge E3 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 8.2 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 0.8% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
Deeper analysis
Nortek Linear eMerge E3-Series devices through firmware version 0.32-09c contain a vulnerability in which administrative credentials are written to the publicly accessible file /test.txt. The issue is tracked as CWE-798 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.2. It manifests even when the default credentials addressed by CVE-2019-7271 have already been changed by the operator.
An unauthenticated attacker with network access can retrieve the credentials from /test.txt and use them to authenticate to the device. Successful exploitation grants the ability to open building doors and perform other administrative actions on the access-control system.
Public exploit code and a credential-disclosure proof-of-concept have been posted to Packet Storm and GitHub. The current EPSS score of 0.81 indicates substantial exploitation interest, though no vendor advisory or patch information appears among the referenced sources.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2022-52842
Vulnerability details
Nortek Linear eMerge E3-Series devices through 0.32-09c place admin credentials in /test.txt that allow an attacker to open a building's doors. (This occurs in situations where the CVE-2019-7271 default credentials have been changed.)
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Enables users to notice when hard-coded credentials have been exploited for unauthorized access.
Security training explicitly warns against hard-coded credentials, lowering their use in systems.
Policy and procedures prohibit hard-coded credentials in favor of managed authentication.
External identity providers eliminate the need for hard-coded credentials in applications.
Changing default authenticators prior to first use and protecting content prevents use of hard-coded credentials.
Central credential stores and rotation policies remove the need for hard-coded credentials in configuration files or code.
Intelligence programs surface reports of campaigns that abuse hard-coded credentials in products, prompting removal or replacement and thereby reducing successful exploitation.
Planned investment enables secure credential storage and management systems instead of hard-coded credentials.