Overview
In this piece, we delve into the intriguing world of cybersecurity vulnerabilities, focusing on a potent threat identified as CVE-2025-10205. The vulnerability, which affects ABB FLXEON up to and even beyond version 9.3.5, stems from the use of a one-way hash with a predictable salt. This particular issue is a significant concern for institutions using the ABB FLXEON, given the potential system compromise or data leakage that could result from its exploitation. Understanding such vulnerabilities is crucial in today’s digital age, where data integrity and system security are paramount.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-10205
Severity: High, CVSS score 8.8
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
ABB FLXEON | 9.3.5 and newer versions
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability occurs due to the use of a predictable salt in a one-way hash function. In encryption, a salt is a piece of data that is used as an additional input to a one-way function that hashes data or password. The addition of the salt provides an extra layer of security. However, if the salt is predictable, it can be easily guessed by an attacker. This flaw enables an attacker to precompute the hash values using a rainbow table attack, significantly reducing the time it takes to crack the hashed values. Successful exploitation allows unauthorized disclosure of information, unauthorized modification, and disruption of service.
Conceptual Example Code
Below is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. This is a sample HTTP request with a potentially malicious payload:
POST /login HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{ "username": "admin", "password_hash": "5f4dcc3b5aa765d61d8327deb882cf99", "salt": "1234" }In this example, the attacker knows the predictable salt (“1234”) and the password hash. Using a rainbow table attack, they can reverse-engineer the hashed password (“5f4dcc3b5aa765d61d8327deb882cf99”), resulting in a potential system compromise.
Mitigation
The primary solution to this vulnerability is applying the vendor patch. In scenarios where this is not feasible, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as temporary mitigation. It’s also important to review and restructure the password hashing mechanism to include a securely generated, random salt. This will significantly reduce the risk of an attacker successfully guessing the salt value.