CVE-2024-48845
Published: 05 December 2024
Summary
CVE-2024-48845 is a critical-severity Weak Password Requirements (CWE-521) vulnerability in Abb Aspect-Ent-2 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 9.3 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked in the top 7.7% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
CVE-2024-48845 is a weak password reset rules vulnerability, tracked as CWE-521, that permits storage of insufficiently strong passwords. It affects ABB ASPECT Enterprise, NEXUS Series, and MATRIX Series, all at version 3.07.02. The flaw received a CVSS 4.0 score of 9.3, reflecting network-accessible conditions with no authentication or user interaction required.
An unauthenticated attacker can exploit the weakness to establish weak passwords during reset operations, thereby obtaining unauthorized administrative or application-level access to the affected systems. The high severity metrics indicate that successful exploitation could compromise confidentiality, integrity, and limited availability of the target installations.
A vendor advisory describing the issue and any associated remediation steps is available at https://search.abb.com/library/Download.aspx?DocumentID=9AKK108469A7497&LanguageCode=en&DocumentPartId=&Action=Launch. The EPSS score has remained flat at 0.0811 with no material increase observed after disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-43216
Vulnerability details
Weak Password Reset Rules vulnerabilities where found providing a potiential for the storage of weak passwords that could facilitate unauthorized admin/application access. Affected products: ABB ASPECT - Enterprise v3.07.02; NEXUS Series v3.07.02; MATRIX Series v3.07.02
- 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.
Configuration settings can define and enforce strong password requirements to avoid weak policies.
IA policy establishes password requirements, directly addressing weak password requirements.
Ensuring authenticators have sufficient strength of mechanism for intended use addresses weak password requirements.
Organization-wide password and authentication policies are applied uniformly, preventing weak local password requirements.
Facilitated training and awareness of current practices improves definition and enforcement of sufficiently strong password requirements.
Dedicated security resources support deployment of strong authentication systems and enforcement of robust password policies.
Vulnerability scans assess password policies and weak credential requirements against benchmarks.
User documentation on maintaining security includes password requirements, directly mitigating weak password policies.