CVE-2022-31479
Published: 06 June 2022
Summary
CVE-2022-31479 is a critical-severity Protection Mechanism Failure (CWE-693) vulnerability in Hidglobal Lp1501 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 9.6 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked in the top 7.2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
An unauthenticated attacker can update the hostname on affected devices with a specially crafted value that results in shell command execution during the core collection process. The flaw affects products based on HID Mercury Intelligent Controllers LP1501, LP1502, LP2500, LP4502, and EP4502 running firmware versions prior to 1.302 on the LP series and 1.296 on the EP series. It is tracked under CWE-78 and CWE-693 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.6.
An attacker reachable over the network can exploit the issue without credentials to monitor all device communications, modify onboard relays, alter configuration files, destabilize the controller, and establish persistent remote access by writing to the filesystem. The injected commands execute only at startup or when unsafe hostname calls occur, limiting the window but still enabling full device compromise once triggered.
Carrier has published product security advisories addressing the affected HID Mercury controllers at the referenced URLs, directing customers to the indicated firmware updates.
The associated EPSS score has remained flat at 0.0907 with no material increase after disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2022-52939
Vulnerability details
An unauthenticated attacker can update the hostname with a specially crafted name that will allow for shell commands to be executed during the core collection process. This vulnerability impacts products based on HID Mercury Intelligent Controllers LP1501, LP1502, LP2500, LP4502,…
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and EP4502 which contain firmware versions prior to 1.302 for the LP series and 1.296 for the EP series. An attacker with this level of access on the device can monitor all communications sent to and from this device, modify onboard relays, change configuration files, or cause the device to become unstable. The injected commands only get executed during start up or when unsafe calls regarding the hostname are used. This allows the attacker to gain remote access to the device and can make their persistence permanent by modifying the filesystem.
- 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.
Implements a reliable, tamperproof protection mechanism whose completeness can be assured.
Procedures for training on protection mechanisms reduce the chance of protection mechanism failures being present or exploitable.
Documented procedures to implement assessment, authorization, and monitoring controls prevent these protection mechanisms from failing due to undefined processes.
Direct evaluation of whether controls produce desired security outcomes detects protection mechanism failures and enables remediation.
Requires assessment that protection mechanisms are correctly implemented and producing intended security outcomes.
The POA&M process ensures identified weaknesses in protection mechanisms are documented and scheduled for remediation, reducing the duration they remain exploitable.
Ongoing control assessments and analysis of monitoring data enable timely detection and response when protection mechanisms fail.
Impact analysis identifies changes that could weaken or disable existing protection mechanisms.