Incorrect Permission AssignmentWeakness · CWE-732

CVE-2025-52873

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
87/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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
Cognex In-Sight Explorer and In-Sight Camera Firmware expose a telnet-based service on port 23 to allow management operations such as firmware upgrades and device reboots, which require authentication. A user with protected privileges can successfully invoke the SetSystemConfig functionality to modify relevant device properties (such as network settings), contradicting the security model proposed in the user manual.

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

Cognex In-Sight Explorer and In-Sight Camera firmware expose a telnet service on port 23 for management operations. Although authentication is required, a user with protected (lower) privileges can successfully invoke the SetSystemConfig functionality to modify sensitive device properties such as network settings, bypassing the intended security model documented in the user manual.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware patches when available. As a compensating control, restrict network access to port 23 using firewalls or network segmentation, and ensure telnet is disabled if alternative secure management interfaces are 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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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. Verify telnet service status on the device
    Access the device management interface or use network scanning tools (e.g., nmap) to check if port 23/telnet is open and listening on the Cognex device
    Affected if Port 23 is open and telnet service is enabled on the device
  2. Confirm device is a Cognex In-Sight product
    Identify the device model through device discovery, web interface, or documentation. Confirm it is a Cognex In-Sight Explorer or In-Sight Camera device
    Affected if The device is a Cognex In-Sight Explorer or In-Sight Camera with telnet enabled
  3. Check user privilege configuration
    Log into the device via telnet or available management interface and enumerate user accounts. Identify accounts with protected (lower) privileges versus administrator privileges
    Affected if A user with protected/lower privileges exists on the device
  4. Verify SetSystemConfig accessibility for lower-privilege users
    Using a protected-level user account, attempt to invoke the SetSystemConfig functionality via telnet to modify network settings or other sensitive properties. Observe if the operation succeeds despite the limited privilege level
    Affected if A protected (lower privilege) user can successfully invoke SetSystemConfig to modify sensitive settings like network configuration
  5. Review network exposure of telnet port
    Examine network segmentation, firewall rules, and access control lists to determine if port 23 is accessible from untrusted networks or the internet
    Affected if Port 23/telnet is accessible from networks outside the trusted management zone

A user is affected if they have a Cognex In-Sight device with telnet on port 23 enabled, and a protected (non-administrator) user account can successfully invoke SetSystemConfig to modify sensitive device properties, particularly if the telnet service is exposed beyond trusted networks.

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

Apply vendor-supplied firmware patches when available. As a compensating control, restrict network access to port 23 using firewalls or network segmentation, and ensure telnet is disabled if alternative secure management interfaces are available.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,080
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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-2025-52873 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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