CVE-2007-2332
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedNortel VPN Router (aka Contivity) 1000, 2000, 4000, and 5000 before 6_05.140 uses a fixed DES key to encrypt passwords, which allows remote authenticated users to obtain a password via a brute force attack on a hash from the LDAP store.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe Nortel Contivity VPN routers (1000, 2000, 4000, 5000) use a fixed, static DES key to encrypt user passwords before storing them in the LDAP directory. An authenticated remote attacker with access to the LDAP store can extract password hashes and perform offline brute force attacks using the known fixed encryption key to recover plaintext passwords.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE dataall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- Single
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify if affected Nortel Contivity VPN router models are in useInventory network devices to identify any of these models: Nortel VPN Router 1010, 1050, 1100, 1700, 1740, 1750, 2700, or 5000. Check device hostname, management interface, or SNMP sysDescr for these model identifiers.Affected if Any of the listed Nortel Contivity VPN router models are present in the environment
-
Verify if LDAP authentication is enabledAccess the router management console or configuration and check the authentication settings. Look for LDAP or Active Directory integration settings under user authentication or AAA configuration. Check if the router is configured to authenticate users against an LDAP directory.Affected if LDAP authentication is configured and the router stores user credentials in the LDAP directory
-
Check the router firmware versionAccess the router management interface (web GUI or CLI) and look for the firmware version information. Navigate to the system status, about, or version information page. Compare the installed version to the fixed version 6_05.140 mentioned in official release notes.Affected if Firmware version is below 6_05.140 or the version cannot be determined (all versions listed as affected)
-
Inspect LDAP directory for stored password hashesAccess the LDAP directory (e.g., Microsoft Active Directory users and computers, or ldapsearch command) and examine the user account attributes. Look for password attributes or custom attributes where the router stores encrypted passwords. Check if the password values appear in a specific DES-encrypted format.Affected if User accounts used for VPN authentication contain encrypted password values in the LDAP store
-
Verify if static DES encryption is used for password storageExamine the router configuration file or LDAP integration settings for encryption parameters. Check if a fixed or hardcoded DES key is referenced in the configuration rather than per-user or dynamically generated keys. This may appear in LDAP sync or password policy settings.Affected if The configuration shows use of a static or hardcoded encryption key for password storage in LDAP
A user is affected if they have any of the listed Nortel Contivity VPN router models with LDAP authentication enabled and firmware versions below 6_05.140, as passwords stored in the LDAP directory use a known fixed DES key.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade Nortel Contivity firmware to version 6_05.140 or later which addresses the fixed DES key issue. Consider password rotation and enhanced access controls on LDAP directories as additional safeguards.
6_05.140 or later
- Identify the current firmware version of the affected Nortel VPN Router (Contivity) device
- Download firmware version 6_05.140 or later from Nortel's support portal
- Follow the manufacturer's standard firmware upgrade procedure for the specific device model
- After upgrading, verify the new version is running and test VPN functionality
- Ensure LDAP authentication is properly configured with the updated firmware
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2007-2332 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2007-2332 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data