CVE-2021-47662 in Franka Emika Robot
Summary
by MITRE • 04/24/2025
Due to missing authorization an unauthenticated remote attacker can cause a DoS attack by connecting via HTTPS and triggering the shutdown button.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/24/2025
This vulnerability represents a critical authorization flaw that allows unauthenticated remote attackers to execute a denial of service attack against affected systems. The issue stems from insufficient access controls within the application's secure communication layer, specifically permitting unauthorized users to interact with administrative functions through the HTTPS protocol. The vulnerability manifests when an attacker establishes a secure connection to the target system and triggers a shutdown mechanism that should only be accessible to authenticated administrators. This misconfiguration creates an attack surface where any remote user can potentially disrupt service availability by leveraging the legitimate shutdown functionality without proper authentication credentials. The impact extends beyond simple service interruption as it demonstrates a fundamental breakdown in the principle of least privilege and proper access control enforcement. From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-285 which addresses improper authorization issues, and represents a significant weakness in the application's security architecture that undermines the integrity of its authentication mechanisms.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires minimal prerequisites since the attacker only needs network access to the HTTPS endpoint and basic knowledge of the shutdown interface. The attack vector operates entirely over the network without requiring physical access or complex reconnaissance phases. The system's failure to validate user credentials before executing administrative commands creates a direct path for unauthorized individuals to disrupt operations. This flaw operates at the application layer and can be particularly devastating in environments where system availability is critical, such as enterprise networks, cloud services, or mission-critical infrastructure. The vulnerability's persistence across different system configurations suggests a design-level issue rather than a configuration error, making it more challenging to remediate and potentially affecting multiple implementations of the same functionality.
From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to business continuity and system reliability. The ability to trigger a shutdown remotely without authentication creates opportunities for both accidental and intentional service disruption. Attackers could exploit this weakness for competitive advantage by taking systems offline during critical business hours, or for malicious purposes such as ransomware campaigns that rely on system availability disruption. The vulnerability's impact is amplified when considering that the attack can be executed from any location with internet access, making it particularly dangerous in cloud environments where systems are exposed to broader network threats. Organizations may experience significant downtime, revenue loss, and potential damage to their reputation when systems are compromised through this unauthorized access vector. The vulnerability also raises concerns about the overall security posture of the affected systems, suggesting potential weaknesses in other administrative functions that might be similarly accessible to unauthorized users.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing robust authentication and authorization controls at all system interfaces. The most effective immediate solution involves enforcing strict access controls for administrative functions, ensuring that all requests to shutdown or similar critical operations require valid authentication credentials. Organizations should implement multi-factor authentication for administrative access and establish proper role-based access controls that limit system modification capabilities to authorized personnel only. Network segmentation and firewall rules can help reduce the attack surface by limiting access to administrative interfaces to trusted networks and IP addresses. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar authorization flaws in other system components. Additionally, implementing proper logging and monitoring for administrative activities can help detect unauthorized access attempts and provide evidence for forensic analysis. The remediation process should include reviewing all administrative interfaces for similar authorization issues and applying the principle of least privilege to ensure that users have only the minimum permissions necessary to perform their required functions. This vulnerability serves as a reminder of the importance of comprehensive security testing and the critical need to validate all access controls regardless of the perceived risk level of the functionality involved.