CVE-2012-2974
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 · uneditedThe web interface on the SMC SMC8024L2 switch allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and obtain administrative access via a direct request to a .html file under (1) status/, (2) system/, (3) ports/, (4) trunks/, (5) vlans/, (6) qos/, (7) rstp/, (8) dot1x/, (9) security/, (10) igmps/, or (11) snmp/.
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 SMC SMC8024L2 switch web interface contains an authentication bypass vulnerability where direct HTTP requests to .html files under specific directories (status/, system/, ports/, trunks/, vlans/, qos/, rstp/, dot1x/, security/, igmps/, snmp/) bypass the authentication mechanism entirely, allowing unauthenticated remote attackers to gain full administrative access to the device.
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 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
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/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.
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Identify the network device modelAccess the device console, CLI, or management interface and retrieve the exact model number and firmware version. Check device inventory or network documentation for SMC SMC8024L2 switches.Affected if The device is an SMC SMC8024L2 Switch with any firmware version.
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Locate the device management interfaceDetermine the IP address assigned to the SMC SMC8024L2 switch and verify whether the web-based management interface (HTTP/HTTPS on typical ports 80/443) is reachable on the network.Affected if The web management interface is network-accessible (even on internal networks).
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Verify if web authentication is enforcedFrom an unauthenticated browser or HTTP client session, attempt to access the device login page or directly request an HTML file from one of the vulnerable directories (status/, system/, ports/, trunks/, vlans/, qos/, rstp/, dot1x/, security/, igmps/, snmp/) without providing credentials.Affected if HTML pages under the vulnerable directories load without requiring login credentials, confirming the authentication bypass is present.
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Assess network exposure of the management interfaceReview firewall rules, ACLs, and VLAN configurations to determine if the switch web management port is accessible from untrusted networks or the internet.Affected if The management interface is exposed to networks outside the trusted management VLAN.
A defender is affected if they operate an SMC SMC8024L2 switch with its web interface accessible on any network, as all versions allow unauthenticated access to HTML files in the specified directories.
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.
From vendor dataSince firmware updates for this legacy switch may be unavailable, primary mitigations include isolating the management interface on a dedicated VLAN with strict ACLs, restricting management access to trusted IP ranges only, and considering replacement with a supported device if the vendor no longer provides patches.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-2974 — 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-2012-2974 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
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- 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
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