Dangerous vulnerabilities were recently discovered in Telestar Digital GmbH IoT radio devices. The flaws could allow remote attackers to hijack vulnerable systems.
The vulnerabilities were discovered by Vulnerability Laboratory. Some of them are already assigned CVE numbers – CVE-2019-13473 and CVE-2019-13474. The vulnerable devices are web radios “Dabman & Imperial” (series i & d) which are distributed in Germany by Telestar Digital GmbH. The devices utilize Bluetooth and Internet connectivity, and are based on BusyBox Linux Debian.
How were the vulnerabilities discovered?
Vulnerability Laboratory came across an anomaly on a private server which was stemming from web radio terminals of Telestar devices. As explained by security researcher Benjamin Kunz, during the investigation they noticed an undocumented Telnet service on the standard port 23 on these end devices during a port scan.
Since port forwarding was activated for all ports on this network, it could be addressed from the outside. Telnet services are less used today, because content is transmitted unencrypted and there are better alternatives today. Nevertheless, the protocol on network level and in end devices is still a bigger topic than originally thought, the researcher explained.
The researchers were able to connect and brute-force one of the radios. The attack granted them root access with full privileges. Other attacks that can be performed against the devices include changing device names, forcing a play stream, saving audio files as messages, and transmitting audio as commands locally and remotely.
More than 1 million devices may be at risk of attacks.
Milena Dimitrova
An inspired writer and content manager who has been with SensorsTechForum since the project started. A professional with 10+ years of experience in creating engaging content. Focused on user privacy and malware development, she strongly believes in a world where cybersecurity plays a central role. If common sense makes no sense, she will be there to take notes. Those notes may later turn into articles! Follow Milena @Milenyim
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