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Plum A\+ Infusion System FirmwareOperating system · Pifzer

CVE-2015-3956

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-03-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 13.6 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Hospira Plum A+ Infusion System version 13.4 and prior, Plum A+3 Infusion System version 13.6 and prior, and Symbiq Infusion System, version 3.13 and prior accept drug libraries, firmware updates, pump commands, and unauthorized configuration changes from unauthenticated devices on the host network. Hospira recommends that customers close Port 20/FTP and Port 23/TELNET on the affected devices. Hospira has also released the Plum 360 Infusion System which is not vulnerable to this issue.

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 confidence

The vulnerability allows unauthenticated network attackers to send drug libraries, firmware updates, pump commands, and configuration changes to vulnerable Hospira infusion pump systems (Plum A+ v13.4 and prior, Plum A+3 v13.6 and prior, Symbiq v3.13 and prior) via FTP (Port 20) and Telnet (Port 23), completely bypassing authentication mechanisms.

MitigationClose Port 20/FTP and Port 23/TELNET on affected devices to block unauthenticated network access; consider migrating to the Plum 360 Infusion System which is not vulnerable.

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 data
Plum A\+ Infusion System FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 13.4
Plum A\+3 Infusion System FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 13.6
Symbiq Infusion System FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 3.13

CVSS 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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify infusion pump product model
    Inventory network devices to locate Hospira infusion pumps, specifically Plum A+, Plum A+3, or Symbiq models. Check device labels, management interfaces, or network scans for device identification.
    Affected if The device is a Plum A+ (any version), Plum A+3 (any version), or Symbiq infusion pump system.
  2. Check firmware version
    Access the pump's administration interface or check system information menus on the device itself to determine the installed firmware version.
    Affected if Firmware version is 13.4 or lower on Plum A+, 13.6 or lower on Plum A+3, or 3.13 or lower on Symbiq.
  3. Identify exposed network services
    Perform a network port scan targeting the infusion pump device on ports 20 (FTP) and 23 (Telnet) to determine if these services are listening and accessible.
    Affected if Port 20/FTP or Port 23/Telnet is open and accessible on the infusion pump.
  4. Verify service accessibility from untrusted networks
    Check network segmentation and firewall rules to determine if the pump's FTP and Telnet services are reachable from network segments that contain untrusted or outside devices.
    Affected if The pump's FTP or Telnet service can be reached from an untrusted or external network segment without authentication.

A defender is affected if they have a Plum A+, Plum A+3, or Symbiq infusion pump running the specified vulnerable firmware versions with exposed FTP (port 20) or Telnet (port 23) services reachable from the network.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 13.6
Interim mitigation

Close Port 20/FTP and Port 23/TELNET on affected devices to block unauthenticated network access; consider migrating to the Plum 360 Infusion System which is not vulnerable.

Recommended fix High confidence

Hospira Plum 360 Infusion System (recommended replacement product - not vulnerable to this issue)

  1. Close Port 20/FTP on the affected devices to prevent unauthenticated firmware and drug library updates
  2. Close Port 23/TELNET on the affected devices to prevent unauthenticated pump commands and configuration changes
  3. Implement network segmentation to isolate infusion systems from unauthenticated network devices
  4. Consider network firewall rules to restrict access to only authorized medical device management systems
Caveat Closing FTP/TELNET ports may affect legitimate device management workflows if those protocols are used by authorized staff; ensure alternative management methods are in place before closing ports

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Plum A\+ Infusion System Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
44.0 hours of engineering $7,720
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-3956 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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