Full Report
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have issued alerts about the presence of hidden functionality in Contec CMS8000 patient monitors and Epsimed MN-120 patient monitors. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-0626, carries a CVSS v4 score of 7.7 on a scale of 10.0. The flaw, alongside two other issues, was reported to CISA
Analysis Summary
# Vulnerability: Critical Backdoor and RCE in Contec Patient Monitors (CVE-2025-0626, CVE-2024-12248, CVE-2025-0683)
## CVE Details
- CVE ID: CVE-2025-0626, CVE-2024-12248, CVE-2025-0683
- CVSS Score: **CVE-2025-0626: 7.7** (CVSS v4), **CVE-2024-12248: 9.3** (CVSS v4), **CVE-2025-0683: 8.2** (CVSS v4)
- CWE: Not explicitly stated for all, but implicit for access/write flaws.
## Affected Systems
- Products: Contec CMS8000 Patient Monitor, Epsimed MN-120 patient monitors.
- Versions:
- CMS8000 Patient Monitor: Firmware version `smart3250-2.6.27-wlan2.1.7.cramfs`
- CMS8000 Patient Monitor: Firmware version `CMS7.820.075.08/0.74(0.75)`
- CMS8000 Patient Monitor: Firmware version `CMS7.820.120.01/0.93(0.95)`
- CMS8000 Patient Monitor: **All versions** affected by CVE-2025-0626 and CVE-2025-0683.
- Configurations: **CVE-2025-0626** involves devices bypassing current network settings to access a hard-coded IP. **CVE-2025-0683** involves an unspecified IP address receiving patient data.
## Vulnerability Description
This advisory details three critical vulnerabilities affecting Contec patient monitors:
1. **CVE-2025-0626 (Backdoor):** The device maintains hidden functionality by sending unauthenticated remote access requests to a hard-coded IP address, ignoring local network configurations. This acts as a persistent backdoor, allowing a malicious actor to upload and overwrite device files remotely.
2. **CVE-2024-12248 (RCE):** An out-of-bounds write vulnerability allows an attacker to send specially formatted UDP requests to write arbitrary data, leading to Remote Code Execution (RCE).
3. **CVE-2025-0683 (Privacy Leakage):** The monitor transmits plaintext patient data to a hard-coded *public* IP address when a patient is attached to the device.
## Exploitation
- Status: Information suggests the backdoor functionality exists, but exploitation status (in-the-wild) is not explicitly confirmed for all CVEs; however, the nature of the flaws implies high risk.
- Complexity: **High** for RCE (CVE-2024-12248) due to complexity of crafting specific packets, but potentially **Low** for the backdoor access (CVE-2025-0626) if the destination IP is trusted/reachable.
- Attack Vector: **Network** (for all three flaws).
## Impact
- Confidentiality: **High** (Due to CVE-2025-0683 exposing plaintext patient data).
- Integrity: **High** (CVE-2025-0626 allows file overwrite; CVE-2024-12248 allows arbitrary code execution).
- Availability: **High** (RCE or file overwrite could lead to device denial of service).
## Remediation
### Patches
No specific patch versions or updates are detailed in the provided text. **Users should consult the CISA/FDA advisories for vendor-released updates.**
### Workarounds
- Isolate affected patient monitors from the network, especially external/untrusted networks, to mitigate remote access/data exfiltration attempts.
- Monitor network traffic originating from the devices for connections to unexpected external IP addresses.
## Detection
- **Indicators of Compromise (IoCs):** Outbound network connections from CMS8000 devices to non-authorized external IP addresses, particularly the hard-coded addresses associated with CVE-2025-0626 and CVE-2025-0683.
- **Detection Methods and Tools:** Network monitoring and intrusion detection systems (IDS) configured to inspect UDP traffic payloads (for CVE-2024-12248) and monitor any anomalous outbound traffic from medical devices.
## References
- Vendor advisories: CISA ICS Medical Advisory ICSMA-25-030-01
- Relevant links:
- CISA Advisory Defanged: hXXps://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/resources/contec-cms8000-contains-backdoor
- CISA Advisory Defanged: hXXps://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-medical-advisories/icsma-25-030-01
- Vendor Website Link (for context): hXXps://www.contecmed.com/productinfo/870649.html