Median 500l Msbr FirmwareOperating system · Audiocodes

CVE-2019-9229

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-07-20
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
93/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
An issue was discovered on AudioCodes Mediant 500L-MSBR, 500-MBSR, M800B-MSBR and 800C-MSBR devices with firmware versions F7.20A to F7.20A.251. An internal interface exposed to the link-local address 169.254.254.253 allows attackers in the local network to access multiple quagga VTYs. Attackers can authenticate with the default 1234 password that cannot be changed, and can execute malicious and unauthorized actions.

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 AudioCodes Mediant devices expose an internal management interface on the link-local address 169.254.254.253, allowing any local network attacker to access Quagga routing software VTY shells. The default password '1234' cannot be changed, providing trivial authentication bypass for unauthenticated command execution.

MitigationRestrict network access to the 169.254.254.253 link-local interface via firewall rules or VLAN segmentation, and contact AudioCodes for patched firmware availability.

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
Median 500l Msbr FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= f7.20a, <= f7.20a.251
Median 500 Msbr FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= f7.20a, <= f7.20a.251
Median M800b Msbr FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= f7.20a, <= f7.20a.251
Median 800c Msbr FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= f7.20a, <= f7.20a.251

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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:A/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 AudioCodes Mediant model
    Log into the device admin interface or check the device label to confirm the exact model (Median 500l, Median 500, Median M800b, or Median 800c)
    Affected if The device is not one of these four models, then it is not affected by this CVE
  2. Check the firmware version
    Access the device management interface and navigate to the firmware or system information section to retrieve the installed firmware version
    Affected if The firmware version is >= f7.20a AND <= f7.20a.251, then the device is in the affected version range
  3. Verify the 169.254.254.253 interface is reachable
    From a host on the same local network, attempt to ping 169.254.254.253 or attempt a TCP connection to common management ports (23/telnet, 80/http, 443/https) on that address
    Affected if The 169.254.254.253 link-local address responds to network requests, indicating the internal management interface is exposed
  4. Confirm default Quagga credentials are active
    Attempt to access the Quagga VTY interface via telnet or SSH to 169.254.254.253 using the default password '1234'
    Affected if Authentication succeeds with the password '1234', confirming the default credentials cannot be changed and the device is vulnerable

The device is affected if it is an AudioCodes Median 500l, 500, M800b, or 800c running firmware between f7.20a and f7.20a.251, with the 169.254.254.253 interface exposed and the default password '1234' still active.

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

Restrict network access to the 169.254.254.253 link-local interface via firewall rules or VLAN segmentation, and contact AudioCodes for patched firmware availability.

Fix this in Median 500l Msbr Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,800
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,880.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-9229 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-9229 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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