CVE-2002-2446 in Healthcare Millennium
Summary
by MITRE
GE Healthcare Millennium MG, NC, and MyoSIGHT has a password of insite.genieacq for the insite account that cannot be changed without disabling product functionality for remote InSite support, which has unspecified impact and attack vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/04/2017
The vulnerability described in CVE-2002-2446 represents a critical security flaw within GE Healthcare's Millennium MG, NC, and MyoSIGHT medical imaging systems. This issue involves a hard-coded default password configuration that creates persistent security risks for healthcare facilities utilizing these systems. The specific credential insite.genieacq for the insite account demonstrates poor security practices that were prevalent in legacy medical device implementations from that era. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because the password cannot be changed without compromising the functionality of remote InSite support capabilities, creating a fundamental security versus operational necessity conflict. This design flaw directly violates established security principles and represents a significant weakness in the overall security posture of healthcare organizations relying on these systems.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from a hardcoded authentication mechanism within the medical imaging software infrastructure. The insite account with the default password insite.genieacq serves as a persistent entry point that remains unchanged across deployments, creating a universal attack vector for unauthorized individuals who may discover this credential through various means including public repositories, security research, or insider threats. This configuration falls under the category of weak authentication mechanisms and hard-coded credentials, which are classified as CWE-798 in the Common Weakness Enumeration catalog. The inability to modify this password without disabling critical remote support functions indicates a flawed security architecture that fails to provide administrators with proper credential management capabilities, forcing organizations to maintain insecure configurations for operational reasons.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access scenarios, as it creates persistent risks for healthcare organizations operating these medical imaging systems. Remote InSite support functionality, which is essential for system maintenance and troubleshooting, becomes compromised when default credentials remain active, potentially allowing attackers to gain unauthorized access to patient imaging data and system controls. The unspecified attack vectors suggest that this vulnerability could be exploited through various means including network reconnaissance, social engineering, or automated scanning tools targeting known default credentials. The implications for healthcare data security are severe, as medical imaging systems contain highly sensitive patient information that could be exposed to unauthorized parties, potentially leading to privacy violations and regulatory compliance issues under healthcare data protection regulations.
Organizations utilizing these GE Healthcare systems should implement immediate mitigations to address this vulnerability, although the specific operational constraints make complete credential replacement challenging. The recommended approach involves implementing network segmentation to limit access to these systems, deploying additional authentication layers where possible, and establishing strict access controls for the insite account. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unauthorized access attempts to the insite account, and organizations should consider implementing network access control policies that restrict access based on legitimate user requirements. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper credential management and the need for secure configuration practices in medical device deployments, aligning with attack techniques documented in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under credential access and privilege escalation categories. Given the age of this vulnerability and the critical nature of medical device security, organizations should prioritize upgrading to supported systems or implementing compensating controls to minimize risk exposure while maintaining necessary operational functionality.