# CVE-2022-25217: Hardcoded credentials in Phicomm Routers

> Attackers can obtain root shell access on Phicomm routers via telnet due to hardcoded cryptographic keys in the firmware.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 7 Mar 2022
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-vvvr-4847-2p4f

## What is CVE-2022-25217?

CVE-2022-25217 is a high-severity vulnerability in Phicomm Routers, published on 7 Mar 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Use of a hard-coded cryptographic key pair by the telnetd_startup service allows an attacker on the local area network to obtain a root shell on the device over telnet. The builds of telnetd_startup included in the version 22.5.9.163 of the K2 firmware, and version 32.1.15.93 of the K3C firmware (possibly amongst many other releases) included both the private and public RSA keys. The remaining versions cited here redacted the private key, but left the public key unchanged. An attacker in possession of the leaked private key may, through a scripted exchange of UDP packets, instruct telnetd_startup to spawn an unauthenticated telnet shell as root, by means of which they can then obtain complete control of the device. A consequence of the limited availablility of firmware images for testing is that models and versions not listed here may share this vulnerability.

Weakness: CWE-798 (Use of Hard-coded Credentials)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-25217?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Phicomm K2 Firmware, Phicomm K3c Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-25217?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-25217 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-25217 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-25217 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Phicomm Routers

- [CVE-2022-25219](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-25219/): Weak cryptography in Phicomm Routers (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2022-25218](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-25218/): Weak cryptography in Phicomm Routers (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2023-40796](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-40796/): Command injection in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2022-48070](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48070/): Command injection in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2022-48072](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48072/): Command injection in n/a (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-25217 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-25217 is a high-severity vulnerability in Phicomm Routers, published on 7 Mar 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-25217 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Phicomm Routers. 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-2022-25217/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-25217/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-25217
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-25217
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-25217

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-25217/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.