Overview
A critical vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-41224, has been discovered affecting multiple RUGGEDCOM products. RUGGEDCOM devices are widely used in industries such as power, transportation, and military for mission-critical applications, which makes this vulnerability particularly concerning. If exploited, it could allow an attacker with network access and credentials to gain SSH access to the device until reboot. In the wrong hands, this could lead to system compromise or significant data leakage, making it a matter of high priority for cybersecurity teams to address.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-41224
Severity: Critical – CVSS 8.8
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
Escape the Surveillance Era
Most apps won’t tell you the truth.
They’re part of the problem.
Phone numbers. Emails. Profiles. Logs.
It’s all fuel for surveillance.
Ameeba Chat gives you a way out.
- • No phone number
- • No email
- • No personal info
- • Anonymous aliases
- • End-to-end encrypted
Chat without a trace.
Product | Affected Versions
RUGGEDCOM RMC8388 V5.X | All versions < V5.10.0 RUGGEDCOM RS416NCv2 V5.X | All versions < V5.10.0 (Continue listing all affected products) How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability stems from the affected products’ improper enforcement of interface access restrictions when changing from management to non-management interface configurations. Despite the configuration being saved, the access restrictions are not properly enforced until a system reboot occurs. This allows an attacker with network access and credentials to gain and maintain SSH access to the device, which could be used to compromise the system or exfiltrate data.
Conceptual Example Code
While the specifics of the attack would depend on the network configuration and the attacker’s capabilities, a conceptual example might involve an attacker using SSH to connect to the device:
ssh user@target_device_IPOnce connected, the attacker could manipulate the interface configurations to maintain access:
configure_interface non-management
save_configThis would allow the attacker to maintain SSH access until the device is rebooted.
Mitigation and Prevention
RUGGEDCOM has released a patch for this vulnerability (V5.10.0). It is strongly recommended that users of affected products update to this version or later as soon as possible. As a temporary mitigation, users may also employ a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to monitor and block any suspicious network activity. However, these measures should not replace the need for patching the vulnerability.