Life2000 Ventilation System: Improper Physical Access Control
CVE-2024-48973 is a critical-severity improper physical access control vulnerability in Life2000 Ventilation System from Baxter, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.3 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected Life2000 Ventilation System versions: 06.08.00.00 and prior. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.22% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.
What to do
- Check which version of Life2000 Ventilation System you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter | Life2000 Ventilation System | 06.08.00.00 and prior | Not stated |
| Baxter | life2000_ventilator_firmware | 06.08.00.00 and earlier | Not stated |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- ChangedThe attack can reach beyond the vulnerable component into other systems.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA (baxter.com).
Official description
The debug port on the ventilator's serial interface is enabled by default. This could allow an attacker to send and receive messages over the debug port (which are unencrypted; see 3.2.1) that result in unauthorized disclosure of information and/or have unintended impacts on device settings and performance.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Improper Physical Access Control
The product is designed with access restricted to certain information, but it does not sufficiently protect against an unauthorized actor with physical access to these areas.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Specific protection requirements depend strongly on contextual factors including the level of acceptable risk associated with compromise to the product's protection mechanism. Designers could incorporate anti-tampering measures that protect against or detect when the product has been tampered with.
- The testing phase of the lifecycle should establish a method for determining whether the protection mechanism is sufficient to prevent unauthorized access.
- Ensure that all protection mechanisms are fully activated at the time of manufacturing and distribution.
More Improper Physical Access Control vulnerabilities (CWE-1263)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Other references
Other vulnerabilities in Life2000 Ventilation System
- 9.3 Critical severity
- 9.3 Critical severity
- 9.3 Critical severity
- 10.0 Critical severity
- 10.0 Critical severity
- 9.3 Critical severity
Recent Improper Physical Access Control vulnerabilities
- 7.8 High severity
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