Use of Default Password
Incomplete Base
Structure: Simple
Description
The product uses default passwords for potentially critical functionality.
It is common practice for products to be designed to use default passwords for authentication. The rationale is to simplify the manufacturing process or the system administrator's task of installation and deployment into an enterprise. However, if admins do not change the defaults, then it makes it easier for attackers to quickly bypass authentication across multiple organizations. There are many lists of default passwords and default-password scanning tools that are easily available from the World Wide Web.
Common Consequences 1
Scope: Authentication
Impact: Gain Privileges or Assume Identity
Potential Mitigations 4
Phase: Requirements
Prohibit use of default, hard-coded, or other values that do not vary for each installation of the product - especially for separate organizations.
Effectiveness: High
Phase: Documentation
Ensure that product documentation clearly emphasizes the presence of default passwords and provides steps for the administrator to change them.
Effectiveness: Limited
Phase: Architecture and Design
Force the administrator to change the credential upon installation.
Effectiveness: High
Phase: InstallationOperation
The product administrator could change the defaults upon installation or during operation.
Effectiveness: Moderate
Demonstrative Examples 1
ID : DX-153
In 2022, the OT:ICEFALL study examined products by 10 different Operational Technology (OT) vendors. The researchers reported 56 vulnerabilities and said that the products were "insecure by design" [REF-1283]. If exploited, these vulnerabilities often allowed adversaries to change how the products operated, ranging from denial of service to changing the code that the products executed. Since these products were often used in industries such as power, electrical, water, and others, there could even be safety implications.Multiple OT products used default credentials.
Observed Examples 8
CVE-2022-30270Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) uses default credentials for some SSH accounts
CVE-2022-2336OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) industrial automation product has a default password
CVE-2021-38759microcontroller board has default password
CVE-2021-44480children's smart watch has default passwords allowing attackers to send SMS commands and listen to the device's surroundings
CVE-2020-11624surveillance camera has default password for the admin account
CVE-2018-15719medical dental records product installs a MySQL database with a blank default password
CVE-2014-9736healthcare system for archiving patient images has default passwords for key management and storage databases
CVE-2000-1209database product installs admin account with default null password, allowing privileges, as exploited by various worms
References 3
OT:ICEFALL: The legacy of "insecure by design" and its implications for certifications and risk management
Forescout Vedere Labs
20-06-2022
ID: REF-1283
Researchers Out Default Passwords Packaged With ICS/SCADA Wares
Kelly Jackson Higgins
04-01-2016
ID: REF-1303
Secure by Design Alert: How Manufacturers Can Protect Customers by Eliminating Default Passwords
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
15-12-2023
ID: REF-1446
Applicable Platforms
Languages:
Not Language-Specific : Undetermined
Technologies:
Not Technology-Specific : UndeterminedICS/OT : Undetermined
Modes of Introduction
Architecture and Design
Related Weaknesses