Software Engineering Institute

CWE-259: Use of Hard-coded Password - CVE-2015-2897

Sierra Wireless GX, ES, and LS gateways running ALEOS contain multiple hard-coded accounts with root privileges. These accounts are enabled by default and accessible by telnet or SSH in systems using ALEOS 4.3.4 or earlier. The accounts also exist and are enabled in versions 4.3.5 to 4.4.1, though remote access is disabled by default.

A remote, unauthenticated attacker may be able to gain full control of an affected device.

Apply an update

Sierra Wireless has released version 4.4.2 to address this issue by disabling access to the hard-coded accounts by default. Users unable or unwilling to update may also consider the following workaround.

Restrict access

As a general good security practice, only allow connections from trusted hosts and networks. Restricting access would prevent an attacker from using credentials from a blocked network location. Refer to the Sierra Wireless technical bulletin for more information about restricting access.