Tetra\Application · Midnightblue

CVE-2022-24402

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-19
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
The TETRA TEA1 keystream generator implements a key register initialization function that compresses the 80-bit key to only 32 bits for usage during the keystream generation phase, which is insufficient to safeguard against exhaustive search attacks.

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 TETRA TEA1 keystream generator contains a cryptographic weakness where the 80-bit secret key is compressed to just 32 bits during keystream generation. This dramatically reduces the effective keyspace from 2^80 to 2^32, enabling exhaustive search (brute-force) attacks to recover the keystream and potentially decrypt communications.

MitigationReplace TEA1 with a cryptographically stronger algorithm or implement additional security layers (such as frequency hopping, encryption overlays, or protocol-level authentication) to compensate for the reduced key entropy. Organizations should audit TETRA deployments and consult with equipment vendors for firmware updates or alternative cipher options.

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
Tetra\Application
Affected:= burst

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
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

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 TETRA equipment vendor and product line
    Inventory your radio/communication infrastructure to determine if any equipment uses the TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) standard. Check vendor documentation or device firmware strings for 'Midnightblue Tetra' branding.
    Affected if The organization deploys Midnightblue Tetra devices.
  2. Determine the specific software version
    Access the device management interface or firmware metadata and locate the version identifier. Compare against the 'burst' version designation noted in the affected products.
    Affected if The installed version is Midnightblue Tetra burst.
  3. Verify TEA1 cipher is active
    Inspect the device encryption or cipher configuration settings. Look for 'TEA1' or 'TEA' as the selected stream cipher algorithm in the encryption parameters.
    Affected if TEA1 is selected as the active keystream generator.
  4. Check key configuration parameters
    Review the key management settings or cryptographic configuration for the encryption channel. Verify whether the 80-bit master key is being used directly or processed through the vulnerable compression mechanism.
    Affected if The device uses TEA1 with standard key processing (no additional entropy padding or key expansion).

You are affected if your TETRA deployment uses Midnightblue Tetra burst version with TEA1 cipher enabled and standard key handling.

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

Replace TEA1 with a cryptographically stronger algorithm or implement additional security layers (such as frequency hopping, encryption overlays, or protocol-level authentication) to compensate for the reduced key entropy. Organizations should audit TETRA deployments and consult with equipment vendors for firmware updates or alternative cipher options.

Fix this in Tetra\ Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation16.0 h
  • Implementation40.0 h
  • Testing24.0 h
  • Review / QA12.0 h
92.0 hours of engineering $16,160
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2022-24402 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