Hard-coded CredentialsWeakness · CWE-798

CVE-2024-35244

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-26
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
There are several hidden accounts. Some of them are intended for maintenance engineers, and with the knowledge of their passwords (e.g., by examining the coredump), these accounts can be used to re-configure the device. As for the details of affected product names, model numbers, and versions, refer to the information provided by the respective vendors listed under [References].

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 · moderate confidence

Hidden maintenance accounts exist in the device firmware with hardcoded credentials. Passwords for these accounts can be extracted by analyzing coredump files, allowing authenticated attackers to reconfigure the device with elevated privileges.

MitigationIdentify and disable all hidden/maintenance accounts, change default credentials, implement secure coredump handling to prevent credential leakage, and apply vendor firmware updates when available.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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. Locate coredump files on the device
    Search the device filesystem for coredump, core dump, or .core files. Common locations include /var/crash/, /tmp/, /var/log/, or the root filesystem. Use commands like 'find / -name "core*" -o -name "*.dmp"' or check device-specific diagnostic directories.
    Affected if Coredump files exist on the device and contain plaintext or recoverable passwords for hidden maintenance accounts
  2. Identify hidden or undocumented user accounts
    Review the device's user account database. On Linux-based firmware, check /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow. Look for accounts beyond the standard administrative users documented in your device's user guide. Compare against the known, intended user list for your specific device model.
    Affected if Additional accounts exist beyond the documented user accounts, particularly accounts with elevated privileges or shell access
  3. Review authentication and access logs
    Examine system logs for successful authentication events from unknown or unexpected accounts. Check /var/log/auth.log, /var/log/secure, or device-specific log locations. Look for timestamps and source IPs of logins to maintenance or root-level accounts.
    Affected if Logs show successful authentications from accounts you did not create or recognize, or from unexpected source addresses
  4. Check for unauthorized configuration changes
    Compare current device configuration against known-good baselines or configuration backups. Look for changes to network settings, firewall rules, user accounts, or access controls that were not initiated by your organization.
    Affected if Configuration changes exist that were not authorized or performed by known administrators, especially changes to user accounts, privileges, or network access controls
  5. Inspect running processes and network connections
    Use commands like 'ps aux' or device management interfaces to identify unexpected processes. Check active network connections and listening services for unauthorized remote access mechanisms or backdoor listeners.
    Affected if Unexpected processes are running, particularly those associated with remote access, or unknown services are listening on network ports

A device is likely affected if coredump files exist containing credentials, if undocumented accounts are present, or if logs show unauthorized access from hidden maintenance accounts.

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

Identify and disable all hidden/maintenance accounts, change default credentials, implement secure coredump handling to prevent credential leakage, and apply vendor firmware updates when available.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
36.0 hours of engineering $6,400
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-35244 — 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-2024-35244 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