CVE-2023-49228
Published: 28 December 2023
Summary
CVE-2023-49228 is a medium-severity Use of Hard-coded Credentials (CWE-798) vulnerability in Peplink Balance Two Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 6.4 (Medium).
Operationally, ranked at the 30.9th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-53231
Vulnerability details
An issue was discovered in Peplink Balance Two before 8.4.0. Console port authentication uses hard-coded credentials, which allows an attacker with physical access and sufficient knowledge to execute arbitrary commands as root.
- 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.