CVE-2019-9533 in Explorer 710
Summary
by MITRE
The root password of the Cobham EXPLORER 710 is the same for all versions of firmware up to and including v1.08. This could allow an attacker to reverse-engineer the password from available versions to gain authenticated access to the device.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/01/2020
The Cobham EXPLORER 710 represents a specialized communication device used in aviation and maritime environments where secure access controls are paramount for operational integrity. This vulnerability affects all firmware versions up to and including v1.08, creating a persistent security weakness that fundamentally undermines the device's authentication mechanisms. The root password remains constant across all affected versions, creating a single point of failure that eliminates the security benefits typically associated with unique authentication credentials. This flaw directly violates fundamental security principles of least privilege and unique identification, where each system instance should maintain distinct authentication parameters to prevent cascading compromise scenarios.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from poor cryptographic and security design practices within the device's firmware development lifecycle. The persistence of the same root password across multiple firmware versions indicates a lack of proper credential management protocols and inadequate security testing during development phases. This weakness creates a predictable authentication vector that allows attackers to perform credential reuse attacks, effectively eliminating any security benefit from the authentication mechanism. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-259, which addresses the use of hard-coded passwords, and represents a classic example of insufficient authentication strength that enables unauthorized access to critical systems.
Operationally, this vulnerability creates significant risk for organizations relying on Cobham EXPLORER 710 devices for mission-critical communications. Attackers with access to firmware versions or documentation can easily reverse-engineer the password and gain full administrative control over the device, potentially compromising communication channels, accessing sensitive data, or disrupting critical operations. The impact extends beyond simple unauthorized access to include potential data exfiltration, man-in-the-middle attacks, and system compromise that could affect broader network infrastructure. This vulnerability particularly affects aviation and maritime operations where communication reliability and security are non-negotiable requirements, making the operational risk assessment particularly severe.
Mitigation strategies must address both immediate remediation and long-term security improvements. Organizations should immediately upgrade to firmware versions that implement unique authentication credentials for each device instance, ensuring that no two systems share identical root passwords. The implementation of dynamic credential generation during device provisioning or first boot processes would prevent this specific vulnerability from reoccurring. Security monitoring should include detection of unauthorized access attempts and credential reuse patterns. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving credential access and privilege escalation, emphasizing the need for robust access control measures and regular security assessments. Additionally, organizations should implement network segmentation and monitoring to detect suspicious activities that might indicate exploitation attempts, while ensuring proper firmware update procedures are established to prevent future occurrences of similar design flaws.