CVE-2019-15799: zyxel gs1900-10hp_firmware Improper Privilege Management

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2019-15799 is a high (CVSS 9.0) Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in zyxel gs1900-10hp_firmware. EPSS estimates a 2.31% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 83% of scored vulnerabilities. 2 public exploits are recorded.

Timeline

1. 14-11-2019
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 05-08-2024
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

An issue was discovered on Zyxel GS1900 devices with firmware before 2.50(AAHH.0)C0. User accounts created through the web interface of the device, when given non-admin level privileges, have the same level of privileged access as administrators when connecting to the device via SSH (while their permissions via the web interface are in fact restricted). This allows normal users to obtain the administrative password by running the tech-support command via the CLI: this contains the encrypted passwords for all users on the device. As these passwords are encrypted using well-known and static parameters, they can be decrypted and the original passwords (including the administrator password) can be obtained.

• CWE-269Improper Privilege ManagementThe product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.