CVE-2013-5558 in TelePresence VX Clinical Assistant
Summary
by MITRE
The WIL-A module in Cisco TelePresence VX Clinical Assistant 1.2 before 1.21 changes the admin password to an empty password upon a reboot, which makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain access via the administrative interface, aka Bug ID CSCuj17238.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/10/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-5558 affects the WIL-A module within Cisco TelePresence VX Clinical Assistant version 1.2 and earlier releases. This issue represents a critical security flaw that fundamentally undermines the system's administrative access controls by resetting the administrator password to an empty value during system reboot operations. The vulnerability specifically targets medical communication devices used in clinical environments where security and access control are paramount for patient data protection and system integrity.
The technical implementation of this flaw occurs within the WIL-A module's password management system where administrative credentials are not properly persisted across system restart events. When the device reboots, the system automatically resets the admin password field to an empty string value, effectively creating a default administrative account with no password protection. This behavior violates fundamental security principles and creates an exploitable condition that allows unauthorized users to gain administrative access without requiring any authentication credentials. The vulnerability operates at the system-level configuration management layer and represents a failure in secure credential storage and retrieval mechanisms.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability exposes clinical telepresence systems to significant risk of unauthorized access and potential compromise. Attackers can exploit this weakness by simply connecting to the administrative interface after a system reboot, bypassing all authentication mechanisms entirely. This creates opportunities for malicious actors to modify system configurations, access sensitive patient data, install unauthorized software, or disrupt critical medical communications. The impact is particularly severe in healthcare environments where these systems may handle confidential patient information and support critical medical procedures. The vulnerability essentially provides a backdoor access path that remains active until the system is manually secured by an administrator who may not be aware of the issue.
The security implications of this vulnerability align with CWE-255, which addresses issues related to insecure password management and credential handling. This flaw also maps to ATT&CK technique T1078.004, which covers legitimate credentials obtained through default passwords or credential reuse, and T1566.001, which involves social engineering through default credentials. Organizations using affected Cisco TelePresence systems should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to version 1.21 or later, manually setting strong administrative passwords, and monitoring system logs for unauthorized access attempts. Additionally, network segmentation and access controls should be enforced to limit exposure of these devices to untrusted networks, while regular security assessments should be conducted to identify similar credential management vulnerabilities in other medical devices within the organization's infrastructure.