Zyxel has released a patch to address a critical vulnerability in its firmware regarding a hardcoded undocumented magic formula account that could be abused by an attacker to login with administrative privileges and compromise its networking devices.
The flaw, tracked as CVE-2020-29583 (CVSS score 7.8), influences variation 4.60 current in vast-variety of Zyxel equipment, including Unified Security Gateway (USG), USG FLEX, ATP, and VPN firewall items.
EYE researcher Niels Teusink documented the vulnerability to Zyxel on November 29, following which the firm unveiled a firmware patch (ZLD V4.60 Patch1) on December 18.
According to the advisory revealed by Zyxel, the undocumented account (“zyfwp”) comes with an unchangeable password (“PrOw!aN_fXp”) which is not only stored in plaintext but could also be applied by a destructive third-party to login to the SSH server or web interface with admin privileges.
Zyxel said the hardcoded credentials were being place in spot to deliver automated firmware updates to connected accessibility details by way of FTP.
Noting that about 10% of 1000 products in the Netherlands operate the affected firmware variation, Teusink reported the flaw’s relative simplicity of exploitation tends to make it a critical vulnerability.
“As the ‘zyfwp’ user has admin privileges, this is a major vulnerability,” Teusink stated in a publish-up. “An attacker could entirely compromise the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the system.”
“Anyone could for case in point transform firewall options to permit or block particular website traffic. They could also intercept targeted visitors or build VPN accounts to obtain obtain to the network guiding the unit. Blended with a vulnerability like Zerologon this could be devastating to smaller and medium companies.”
The Taiwanese business is also anticipated to address the issue in its accessibility issue (AP) controllers with a V6.10 Patch1 that is set to be unveiled in April 2021.
It’s really recommended that people put in the necessary firmware updates to mitigate the risk associated with the flaw.
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Some parts of this article are sourced from:
thehackernews.com