Deck Mate 2: Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key
CVE-2025-34500 is a high-severity use of hard-coded cryptographic key vulnerability in Deck Mate 2 from Light & Wonder, Inc. / SHFL Entertainment, Inc. / Shuffle Master, with a CVSS 4.0 base score of 7.0 out of 10. It can be exploited with physical access to the device by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. The record lists version all known versions prior to 2025-10-23 as the first without the flaw, so updating Deck Mate 2 to that release or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.15% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update Deck Mate 2 to all known versions prior to 2025-10-23 or a later version.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light & Wonder, Inc. / SHFL Entertainment, Inc. / Shuffle Master | Deck Mate 2 | before all known versions prior to 2025-10-23 | all known versions prior to 2025-10-23 |
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
- PhysicalThe attacker must physically touch the device.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Attack requirements
- NoneThe attack does not depend on a particular deployment or configuration.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
- HighSerious loss of confidentiality on the vulnerable system.
- Integrity (vulnerable system)
- HighSerious loss of integrity on the vulnerable system.
- Availability (vulnerable system)
- HighSerious loss of availability on the vulnerable system.
- Confidentiality (other systems)
- NoneNo loss of confidentiality on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
- Integrity (other systems)
- NoneNo loss of integrity on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
- Availability (other systems)
- NoneNo loss of availability on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:P/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X. Scored by CNA (vulncheck.com).
Official description
Deck Mate 2's firmware update mechanism accepts packages without cryptographic signature verification, encrypts them with a single hard-coded AES key shared across devices, and uses a truncated HMAC for integrity validation. Attackers with access to the update interface - typically via the unit's USB update port - can craft or modify firmware packages to execute arbitrary code as root, allowing persistent compromise of the device's integrity and deck randomization process. Physical or on-premises access remains the most likely attack path, though network-exposed or telemetry-enabled deployments could theoretically allow remote exploitation if misconfigured. The vendor confirmed that firmware updates have been issued to correct these update-chain weaknesses and that USB update access has been disabled on affected units.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key
The product uses a hard-coded, unchangeable cryptographic key.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Prevention schemes mirror that of hard-coded password storage.
More Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key vulnerabilities (CWE-321)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: partial).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Other references
Other vulnerabilities in Deck Mate 2
- 7.0 High severity
- 7.0 High severity
Recent Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key vulnerabilities
- 8.1 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 7.5 High severity
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