CVE-2017-5149 in Merlin@home
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in St. Jude Medical Merlin@home, versions prior to Version 8.2.2 (RF models: EX1150; Inductive models: EX1100; and Inductive models: EX1100 with MerlinOnDemand capability). The identities of the endpoints for the communication channel between the transmitter and St. Jude Medical's web site, Merlin.net, are not verified. This may allow a man-in-the-middle attacker to access or influence communications between the identified endpoints.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/02/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-5149 affects St. Jude Medical Merlin@home devices, specifically versions prior to 8.2.2 across multiple model variants including EX1150 RF models and EX1100 inductive models with MerlinOnDemand capability. This represents a critical security flaw in medical device communication infrastructure that directly impacts patient safety and data integrity. The vulnerability stems from insufficient endpoint authentication mechanisms within the communication protocol between the medical device transmitter and St. Jude Medical's web services at merlin.net. This weakness creates an exploitable gap in the device's security architecture where attackers can intercept and manipulate communication streams without proper verification of the endpoints involved.
The technical flaw manifests as a failure to implement proper certificate validation or endpoint identification mechanisms during the communication handshake process. According to CWE-295, this vulnerability maps directly to "Improper Certificate Validation" where the system fails to adequately verify the authenticity of the communication endpoints. The absence of robust endpoint verification allows malicious actors to establish fraudulent connections that appear legitimate to the medical device, creating a man-in-the-middle attack vector. This weakness is particularly dangerous in medical contexts as it can enable unauthorized access to patient data and potentially allow manipulation of critical device settings that could impact patient care. The vulnerability affects the fundamental security principle of authentication, where the device cannot reliably confirm it is communicating with the legitimate St. Jude Medical servers rather than an attacker's malicious system.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception to potentially life-threatening scenarios in medical device management. When attackers can impersonate legitimate servers, they gain the ability to access sensitive patient information, modify device configurations, or even disrupt device functionality entirely. This represents a significant risk to patient safety, particularly for cardiac rhythm management devices where unauthorized interference could have fatal consequences. The vulnerability affects the integrity and confidentiality of medical data transmission, potentially exposing patients to privacy violations while simultaneously creating risks for device operation. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1071.004 for application layer protocol: DNS and T1566 for credential access through man-in-the-middle techniques. The attack surface is further expanded by the fact that these devices typically operate in healthcare environments where network security controls may be insufficient to prevent such attacks.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-5149 require immediate firmware updates to versions 8.2.2 or later, which would implement proper endpoint authentication and certificate validation mechanisms. Organizations should also implement network segmentation and monitoring to detect anomalous communication patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The remediation process must include thorough verification of device firmware versions and comprehensive network security assessments to identify other potential vulnerabilities in the connected medical device ecosystem. Additionally, healthcare organizations should establish robust incident response procedures specifically for medical device security incidents, ensuring that any suspected exploitation of this vulnerability can be rapidly identified and addressed to prevent potential patient harm. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date medical device security firmware and implementing proper network security controls to protect against sophisticated attacks targeting healthcare infrastructure.