WL20 Biometric Attendance System: Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information
CVE-2025-54464 is a high-severity cleartext storage of sensitive information vulnerability in WL20 Biometric Attendance System from ZkTeco, 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. Affected WL20 Biometric Attendance System versions: <=ZLM31-FXO1-3.1.8. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.1% 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
- Check which version of WL20 Biometric Attendance 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZKTeco Co | WL20 Biometric Attendance System | <=ZLM31-FXO1-3.1.8 | 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
- 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 (cert-in.org.in).
Official description
This vulnerability exists in ZKTeco WL20 due to storage of admin and user credentials without encryption in the device firmware. An attacker with physical access could exploit this vulnerability by extracting the firmware and reverse engineer the binary data to access the unencrypted credentials stored in the firmware of targeted device.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information
The product stores sensitive information in cleartext within a resource that might be accessible to another control sphere.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- When storing data in the cloud (e.g., S3 buckets, Azure blobs, Google Cloud Storage, etc.), use the provider's controls to encrypt the data at rest.
- In some systems/environments such as cloud, the use of double encryption (at both the software and hardware layer) might be required, and the developer might be solely responsible for both layers, instead of shared responsibility with the administrator of the broader system/environment.
More Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information vulnerabilities (CWE-312)
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
Recent Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information vulnerabilities
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