CVE-2024-9643 in F3x36
Summary
by MITRE • 02/04/2025
The Four-Faith F3x36 router using firmware v2.0.0 is vulnerable to authentication bypass due to hard-coded credentials in the administrative web server. An attacker with knowledge of the credentials can gain administrative access via crafted HTTP requests. This issue appears similar to CVE-2023-32645.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/20/2025
The Four-Faith F3x36 router represents a critical network infrastructure device that has been identified with a severe authentication bypass vulnerability through the use of hard-coded credentials within its administrative web server implementation. This vulnerability affects firmware version 2.0.0 and exposes the device to unauthorized administrative access through carefully crafted HTTP requests that exploit the hardcoded authentication credentials. The presence of such hard-coded credentials in network infrastructure devices constitutes a fundamental flaw in the security architecture and represents a clear violation of security best practices. The vulnerability's similarity to CVE-2023-32645 indicates a pattern of insecure credential management within the vendor's product line, suggesting systemic issues in their software development lifecycle and security testing processes.
The technical flaw manifests through the inclusion of static, well-known credentials within the router's firmware code that are not changed during the device provisioning or deployment phases. These hard-coded credentials allow any attacker who discovers them to establish administrative sessions with full control over the router's configuration parameters, network settings, and potentially the entire network segment it serves as a gateway for. The exploitation mechanism involves sending specially crafted HTTP requests to the administrative web interface, which then validates against the hardcoded credentials without proper authentication mechanisms or account lockout features. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-798, which specifically addresses the use of hard-coded credentials in software implementations, and also aligns with CWE-259, which covers the use of hard-coded passwords in authentication mechanisms. The flaw represents a classic example of insecure credential storage and management practices that have been repeatedly identified as critical weaknesses in network device security.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple unauthorized access to a single router device. An attacker with administrative access can modify network routing tables, configure firewall rules, disable security features, and potentially establish persistent backdoors within the network infrastructure. This access could enable the attacker to perform man-in-the-middle attacks, redirect network traffic, or even compromise other devices connected to the same network segment. The vulnerability particularly affects enterprise and industrial networks where these routers serve as critical infrastructure components, potentially allowing attackers to escalate their privileges and move laterally within the network. The attack surface is further expanded when considering that the hard-coded credentials may be discoverable through various means including network scanning, firmware analysis, or public repositories containing device firmware images. This vulnerability directly correlates with several ATT&CK techniques including T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for social engineering, as well as T1046 for network service scanning and T1098 for account manipulation.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including network segmentation to isolate affected devices, deploying network monitoring solutions to detect unauthorized access attempts, and changing default credentials where possible even though the hard-coded nature of the credentials makes this less effective. The most effective remediation strategy involves updating firmware to versions that address the hardcoded credential issue, which requires coordination with the vendor to obtain patched firmware images. Network administrators should also implement strict access controls and firewall rules that limit access to administrative interfaces to only trusted networks and IP addresses. Additionally, continuous vulnerability scanning and firmware integrity monitoring should be implemented to detect similar issues in other network infrastructure devices. The incident highlights the critical importance of secure software development practices, including proper credential management, secure coding standards, and comprehensive security testing before deployment. Organizations should also consider implementing device authentication mechanisms and certificate-based authentication to reduce reliance on static credentials. Regular security assessments of network infrastructure devices and adherence to industry standards such as NIST SP 800-53 for security controls should be mandatory practices to prevent similar vulnerabilities from compromising network security.