CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2024-4231

On-Chip Debug and Test Interface With Improper Access Control

Published: May 14, 2024 | Modified: Jun 05, 2024
CVSS 3.x
N/A
Source:
NVD
CVSS 2.x
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
Ubuntu

This vulnerability exists in Digisol Router (DG-GR1321: Hardware version 3.7L; Firmware version : v3.2.02) due to presence of root terminal access on a serial interface without proper access control. An attacker with physical access could exploit this by identifying UART pins and accessing the root shell on the vulnerable system.

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow the attacker to access the sensitive information on the targeted system.

Weakness

The chip does not implement or does not correctly perform access control to check whether users are authorized to access internal registers and test modes through the physical debug/test interface.

Extended Description

A device’s internal information may be accessed through a scan chain of interconnected internal registers, usually through a JTAG interface. The JTAG interface provides access to these registers in a serial fashion in the form of a scan chain for the purposes of debugging programs running on a device. Since almost all information contained within a device may be accessed over this interface, device manufacturers typically insert some form of authentication and authorization to prevent unintended use of this sensitive information. This mechanism is implemented in addition to on-chip protections that are already present. If authorization, authentication, or some other form of access control is not implemented or not implemented correctly, a user may be able to bypass on-chip protection mechanisms through the debug interface. Sometimes, designers choose not to expose the debug pins on the motherboard. Instead, they choose to hide these pins in the intermediate layers of the board. This is primarily done to work around the lack of debug authorization inside the chip. In such a scenario (without debug authorization), when the debug interface is exposed, chip internals are accessible to an attacker.

Potential Mitigations

References