# CVE-2012-4898: Tropos Wireless Mesh Routers Insufficient Entropy

> Insufficient entropy in SSH key generation allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof devices or modify data streams on Tropos wireless mesh routers.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.1 (`AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:C/I:P/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 18 Dec 2012
- **Updated:** 9 Jul 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-g369-p2rw-gqjr

## What is CVE-2012-4898?

CVE-2012-4898 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Tropos Mesh OS, published on 18 Dec 2012. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Mesh OS before 7.9.1.1 on Tropos wireless mesh routers does not use a sufficient source of entropy for SSH keys, which makes it easier for man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof a device or modify a client-server data stream by leveraging knowledge of a key from a product installation elsewhere.

Weakness: CWE-310

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-4898?

It affects 9 products.


Products: Tropos 1310 Distrubution Automation Mesh Router, Tropos 1410 Mesh Router, Tropos 1410 Wireless Mesh Router, Tropos 3310 Indoor Mesh Router, Tropos 3320 Indoor Mesh Router, Tropos 4310 Mobile Mesh Router, Tropos 6310 Mesh Router, Tropos 6320 Mesh Router, Tropos Mesh Os.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-4898?

No fix has been published for CVE-2012-4898 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2012-4898 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-4898 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-4898 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-4898 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Tropos Mesh OS, published on 18 Dec 2012. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-4898 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Tropos Mesh OS. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-4898/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-4898/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-4898
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-4898
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-4898

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-4898/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.