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OpenelecOperating system

CVE-2016-2230

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-02-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
OpenELEC and RasPlex devices have a hardcoded password for the root account, which makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain access via an SSH session.

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

OpenELEC and RasPlex media center distributions contain a hardcoded password for the root account embedded in the firmware image. Remote attackers can exploit this to authenticate via SSH and gain full root access to the affected device.

MitigationImmediately change the default root password, disable root SSH login if possible, and apply vendor firmware updates that remove hardcoded credentials.

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
OpenelecOperating system
Affected:all versions

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 the installed media center distribution
    Check /etc/os-release or run 'cat /etc/os-release' to see the OS name and version
    Affected if The system is running OpenELEC or RasPlex of any version
  2. Determine if SSH service is enabled
    Check if SSH is running: 'systemctl status sshd' or 'ps aux | grep sshd', or check /etc/ssh/sshd_config for enabled configuration
    Affected if SSH daemon is running and accessible on the network
  3. Verify root SSH login configuration
    Inspect /etc/ssh/sshd_config and look for 'PermitRootLogin' setting, or check if root can authenticate via SSH
    Affected if Root login via SSH is permitted (PermitRootLogin yes or without prohibition)
  4. Check root account password status
    Compare the current root password hash in /etc/shadow against the known default hardcoded password hash for OpenELEC
    Affected if The root password matches the hardcoded default credential or has not been changed from factory defaults

The environment is affected if running any version of OpenELEC or RasPlex with SSH enabled and the default root password still in place.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Immediately change the default root password, disable root SSH login if possible, and apply vendor firmware updates that remove hardcoded credentials.

Fix this in Openelec Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,980
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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-2016-2230 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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