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CISA Adds Actively Exploited Sierra Wireless Router Flaw Enabling RCE Attacks

Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →

CVEVulnerabilityCVSSEPSSFlagsAffectedExposurePublished
CVE-2018-4063
Unrestricted File Upload Leading to Code Execution in Sierra Wireless AirLink ALEOS

CVE-2018-4063 is an unrestricted upload of a file with a dangerous type (CWE-434) in the web server of Sierra Wireless AirLink gateways running ALEOS, where a specially crafted HTTP request can upload an executable file that becomes routable and accessible through the webserver. The flaw is triggered by an authenticated HTTP request, so an attacker must first have valid credentials for the device's web interface. With that access, an attacker can place executable code on the gateway and run it through the webserver, effectively achieving authenticated remote code execution on a device that often sits at the network edge of critical operations. Any organization running AirLink ALEOS gateways is potentially affected, and CISA notes that the impacted product may be end-of-life or end-of-service, with the recommended action being to discontinue use where mitigations are not available. The flaw was added to the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2025-12-12, indicating known exploitation in the wild, with a high EPSS score (27.1%, 98th percentile), no public proof-of-concept, and unknown ransomware usage.

Do: Inventory all AirLink gateways running ALEOS and check their ALEOS firmware versions against Sierra Wireless/Semtech advisories, then upgrade to currently supported firmware or discontinue use of any device CISA notes as EoL/EoS. Restrict the gateway web management interface to trusted management networks, rotate device credentials since authentication is required for exploitation, and look for unexpected uploaded files on the device webserver. Federal agencies must apply this fix per BOD 22-01 guidance following the 2025-12-12 KEV addition.

8.827% KEV PoC ×3
  • Sierra Wireless AirLink ALEOS
largetens of thousands of exposed AirLink gateways, with the total deployed fleet plausibly in the hundreds of thousands
CVE-2024-0012
+1 in the same advisory: …9474
Authentication Bypass in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Management Interface

CVE-2024-0012 is a critical authentication bypass (CWE-306) in the web management interface of Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS that lets an unauthenticated attacker with network access to that interface gain full PAN-OS administrator privileges. It is triggered simply by sending requests to an exposed management web interface, with no credentials or user interaction required. Once inside, the attacker can perform administrative actions, tamper with device configuration, and chain the bug with the related privilege escalation flaw CVE-2024-9474 for deeper compromise. Only PAN-OS 10.2, 11.0, 11.1 and 11.2 are affected; Cloud NGFW and Prisma Access are not, and risk is greatly reduced when the management interface is restricted to trusted internal IP addresses per vendor best practice. The flaw is being actively exploited: it was added to CISA KEV on 2024-11-18 with known ransomware use, and public reporting describes an ongoing campaign that has compromised more than 2,000 Palo Alto devices using this bug chained with CVE-2024-9474.

Do: Upgrade PAN-OS 10.2, 11.0, 11.1 and 11.2 deployments to the patched releases listed in the vendor advisory (security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2024-0012), ensuring the chained privilege escalation bug CVE-2024-9474 is also addressed. Until patched, never expose the management web interface to untrusted networks or the internet, and restrict access to trusted internal IP addresses only. Review device logs and configurations for signs of compromise (unexpected admin activity or configuration changes) and hunt for persistence on any internet-exposed device.

9.3
group max
100% KEV ransomware PoC
  • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS PAN-OS 10.2, 11.0, 11.1 and 11.2 (Cloud NGFW and Prisma Access are not impacted)
largetens of thousands of internet-exposed PAN-OS management interfaces, with 2,000+ devices already confirmed compromised
CVE-2024-12856
OS Command Injection in Four-Faith F3x24/F3x36 Routers

Four-Faith industrial router models F3x24 and F3x36 running firmware version 2.0 are vulnerable to OS command injection (CWE-78) through the apply.cgi interface when an attacker modifies the system time over HTTP. The flaw is technically authenticated (CVSS 3.1: 7.2, network-adjacent-remote with high privileges required), but the same firmware ships with default credentials, so any device where defaults were not changed is effectively exposed to unauthenticated remote OS command execution. A successful attacker can run arbitrary commands on the router, gaining full device compromise that can be used for further access or recruitment into botnets. Four-Faith deployments — typically industrial and remote-connectivity routers — are affected, with at least 15,000 routers exposed to the internet and many retaining default credentials. Exploitation is confirmed in the wild: a Mirai botnet variant has weaponized the flaw for DDoS attacks, and the RondoDox botnet is also targeting it, consistent with a high EPSS score (84.2% probability of exploitation within 30 days, 100th percentile).

Do: Update F3x24/F3x36 devices to the latest firmware available from Four-Faith and verify apply.cgi handling is fixed; as an immediate mitigation, change default administrator credentials and restrict HTTP management access to trusted networks. Check devices for signs of botnet infection (unexpected outbound traffic or Crontab/persistence changes) and prioritize patching given confirmed in-the-wild exploitation by Mirai and RondoDox botnets.

7.284% PoC ×2
  • Four-Faith F3x24 router firmware at least firmware version 2.0 (exact affected version range not specified in the data)
  • Four-Faith F3x36 router firmware at least firmware version 2.0 (exact affected version range not specified in the data)
large≈15,000+ internet-exposed routers (headline scan count; total deployments likely higher)
CVE-2025-0108
Authentication Bypass in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Management Interface

CVE-2025-0108 is a missing-authentication flaw (CWE-306) in the PAN-OS management web interface of Palo Alto Networks firewalls that lets an unauthenticated attacker with network access to that interface bypass login and invoke certain PHP scripts, reportedly via path-confusion tricks in the web server stack. Invoking the scripts does not yield remote code execution, but it can compromise the confidentiality and integrity of PAN-OS, such as by reading or modifying management-plane information. Any PAN-OS firewall whose management web interface is reachable by an attacker — for example, exposed to the internet or reachable from a compromised internal network — is affected, while Cloud NGFW and Prisma Access are not. The flaw is being actively exploited: CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2025-02-18, a public proof-of-concept is available, EPSS puts the 30-day exploitation probability at 98.5%, and headlines report attackers chaining this bug with other PAN-OS flaws to breach firewalls.

Do: Upgrade PAN-OS to a fixed release per the Palo Alto Networks advisory (security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2025-0108), since the vendor has patched the flaw. Until patched, restrict management web interface access to trusted internal IP addresses or management-only network zones as recommended in the vendor's hardening guidance. Check management-interface logs for unauthenticated requests to PHP scripts and for signs of chaining with other recently exploited PAN-OS vulnerabilities.

8.898% KEV PoC ×3
  • Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS
large≈ tens of thousands of internet-exposed PAN-OS management interfaces (subset of a much larger firewall install base)
Full article519 words · extracted from thehackernews.com · click to collapse

Ravie LakshmananDec 13, 2025Network Security / Vulnerability

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Friday added a high-severity flaw impacting Sierra Wireless AirLink ALEOS routers to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, following reports of active exploitation in the wild.

CVE-2018-4063 (CVSS score: 8.8/9.9) refers to an unrestricted file upload vulnerability that could be exploited to achieve remote code execution by means of a malicious HTTP request.

"A specially crafted HTTP request can upload a file, resulting in executable code being uploaded, and routable, to the webserver," the agency said. "An attacker can make an authenticated HTTP request to trigger this vulnerability."

Details of the six-year-old flaw were publicly shared by Cisco Talos in April 2019, describing it as an exploitable remote code execution vulnerability in the ACEManager "upload.cgi" function of Sierra Wireless AirLink ES450 firmware version 4.9.3. Talos reported the flaw to the Canadian company in December 2018.

"This vulnerability exists in the file upload capability of templates within the AirLink 450," the company said. "When uploading template files, you can specify the name of the file that you are uploading."

"There are no restrictions in place that protect the files that are currently on the device, used for normal operation. If a file is uploaded with the same name of the file that already exists in the directory, then we inherit the permissions of that file."

Talos noted that some of the files that exist in the directory (e.g., "fw_upload_init.cgi" or "fw_status.cgi") have executable permissions on the device, meaning an attacker can send HTTP requests to the "/cgi-bin/upload.cgi" endpoint to upload a file with the same name to achieve code execution.

This is compounded by the fact that ACEManager runs as root, thereby causing any shell script or executable uploaded to the device to also run with elevated privileges.

The addition of CVE-2018-4063 to the KEV catalog comes a day after a honeypot analysis conducted by Forescout over a 90-day period revealed that industrial routers are the most attacked devices in operational technology (OT) environments, with threat actors attempting to deliver botnet and cryptocurrency miner malware families like RondoDox, Redtail, and ShadowV2 by exploiting the following flaws -

Attacks have also been recorded from a previously undocumented threat cluster named Chaya_005 that weaponized CVE-2018-4063 in early January 2024 to upload an unspecified malicious payload with the name "fw_upload_init.cgi." No further successful exploitation efforts have been detected since then.

"Chaya_005 appears to be a broader reconnaissance campaign testing multiple vendor vulnerabilities rather than focusing on a single one," Forescout Research – Vedere Labs said, adding it's likely the cluster is no longer a "significant threat."

In light of active exploitation of CVE-2018-4063, Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies are advised to update their devices to a supported version or discontinue the use of the product by January 2, 2026, since it has reached end-of-support status.

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Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://thehackernews.com/2025/12/cisa-adds-actively-exploited-sierra.html