CVE-2019-25719: Dräger Infinity Monitor DoS Vulnerability

CVE-2019-25719 Overview

CVE-2019-25719 affects Dräger Infinity Acute Care System and Standalone Infinity M540 patient monitors running software versions VG4.1.1, VG4.0.3, and lower. The devices contain network message handling flaws that let network-adjacent attackers spoof or tamper with clinical data and trigger denial-of-service conditions. Attackers with access to an enabled Infinity network port, or with physical proximity to a wireless access point, can modify device settings such as alarm states and alarm limits. The same flaw allows adversaries to overwhelm the monitor with traffic, forcing a reboot and loss of network functionality. The vulnerability maps to CWE-924: Improper Enforcement of Message Integrity During Transmission.

Critical Impact
Attackers on adjacent networks can alter patient alarm limits, suppress alarm states, and force monitor reboots, directly affecting patient safety in clinical environments.

Affected Products

Dräger Infinity Acute Care System (IACS) running VG4.1.1, VG4.0.3, and earlier
Dräger Standalone Infinity M540 patient monitor running VG4.1.1, VG4.0.3, and earlier
Deployments using the Infinity network with enabled wired ports or wireless access points

Discovery Timeline

2026-06-02 - CVE-2019-25719 published to NVD
2026-06-03 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2019-25719

Vulnerability Analysis

The Dräger Infinity Acute Care System and the Standalone Infinity M540 patient monitor process inbound network messages without enforcing integrity controls on the transmission channel. As a result, an attacker on the Infinity network can inject crafted messages that the monitor accepts as legitimate. The accepted messages can change clinical configuration on the device, including alarm states and alarm thresholds used by clinicians to detect patient deterioration.

The same network message handler does not rate-limit or validate the volume of incoming data. An attacker who floods the device can exhaust its processing capacity, triggering a reboot and removing the unit from the Infinity network. Both behaviors stem from one underlying weakness in how the device trusts and processes network input.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper enforcement of message integrity during transmission [CWE-924]. The Infinity network protocol stack on affected VG4 software does not authenticate the source or validate the integrity of incoming messages before applying them to device state. Without cryptographic integrity checks or session authentication, any host reachable on the Infinity network segment can issue commands that change the monitor's configuration or saturate its message queue.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires network adjacency to the Infinity network. An attacker can connect to an enabled Infinity Ethernet port within the clinical environment, or position within radio range of an Infinity wireless access point. Once connected, the attacker sends crafted protocol messages to perform two distinct actions. The first action spoofs configuration updates that change alarm states or alarm limits on the targeted monitor. The second action sends a high volume of messages to the monitor, exhausting its handling capacity and forcing a reboot that drops network connectivity. Refer to the Dräger Security Advisory PSA-19-255-02 and the VulnCheck Advisory on Infinity M540 for further technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2019-25719

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected reboots or network drops on Infinity M540 monitors not correlated with maintenance windows
Alarm state or alarm limit changes on monitors that do not match clinician actions in the EMR audit trail
High volumes of inbound traffic on the Infinity network segment targeting monitor IP addresses
New or unknown MAC addresses associating with Infinity wireless access points

Detection Strategies

Monitor switch port logs for unauthorized devices connecting to ports assigned to the Infinity network VLAN
Baseline normal message rates between IACS components and alert on sustained deviations toward individual monitors
Correlate monitor reboot events from biomedical asset logs with network telemetry for the same timestamps
Track configuration change events on M540 monitors and reconcile against authorized clinical workflows

Monitoring Recommendations

Deploy passive medical-device network monitoring on the Infinity VLAN to capture protocol-level anomalies
Forward biomedical device event logs to a centralized SIEM or data lake for cross-source correlation
Alert on any wireless client associating with Infinity access points outside an approved hardware inventory
Review alarm limit modification audit trails on a recurring schedule during clinical safety reviews

How to Mitigate CVE-2019-25719

Immediate Actions Required

Disable unused Infinity network ports at the switch level to prevent unauthorized physical connections
Restrict access to areas containing Infinity wireless access points and reduce transmit power where feasible
Inventory all IACS and M540 devices and identify units running VG4.1.1, VG4.0.3, or earlier
Contact Dräger to obtain remediation guidance and a supported upgrade path for affected software versions

Patch Information

Dräger published Product Security Advisory PSA-19-255-02 covering this issue. Customers should consult the Dräger Security Advisory PSA-19-255-02 for vendor-supplied remediation steps and approved software versions. Coordinate any software change with biomedical engineering and clinical stakeholders before deployment.

Workarounds

Segment the Infinity network on a dedicated VLAN with no routing to general hospital or guest networks
Apply MAC address allow-listing on switch ports serving Infinity devices to block unauthorized hosts
Use WPA2-Enterprise authentication on Infinity wireless access points and rotate credentials regularly
Enable port security and disable unused Ethernet drops in patient rooms and nurse stations

bash

# Example switch configuration to limit access to Infinity network ports
interface GigabitEthernet0/1
 description Infinity-M540-Monitor
 switchport mode access
 switchport access vlan 200
 switchport port-security
 switchport port-security maximum 1
 switchport port-security mac-address sticky
 switchport port-security violation shutdown
 spanning-tree portfast
 spanning-tree bpduguard enable
 no cdp enable