CVE-2024-41710: Mitel 6970 Firmware RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2024-41710 Overview

CVE-2024-41710 is an argument injection vulnerability affecting Mitel 6800 Series, 6900 Series, and 6900w Series SIP Phones, including the 6970 Conference Unit, through firmware version R6.4.0.HF1 (R6.4.0.136). This vulnerability allows an authenticated attacker with administrative privileges to inject malicious arguments during the boot process due to insufficient parameter sanitization. Successful exploitation enables arbitrary command execution within the system context, potentially leading to complete device compromise.

Critical Impact

This vulnerability is actively exploited in the wild and has been added to the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. Organizations using affected Mitel SIP phones should prioritize immediate remediation.

Affected Products

• Mitel 6800 Series SIP Phones (6863i, 6865i, 6867i, 6869i, 6873i)
• Mitel 6900 Series SIP Phones (6905, 6910, 6915, 6920, 6930, 6940)
• Mitel 6900w Series SIP Phones (6920w, 6930w, 6940w)
• Mitel 6970 Conference Unit

Discovery Timeline

• August 12, 2024 - CVE-2024-41710 published to NVD
• November 5, 2025 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-41710

Vulnerability Analysis

This argument injection vulnerability (CWE-88) exists within the boot process of affected Mitel SIP phones. The vulnerability stems from the system's failure to properly sanitize user-controlled parameters that are passed to system commands during device initialization. When an authenticated administrator modifies certain configuration parameters, the values are not adequately validated before being incorporated into command-line arguments executed during the boot sequence.

The network-based attack vector means that exploitation can occur remotely over the network, though it requires the attacker to first obtain valid administrative credentials. Once authenticated, the attacker can craft malicious input that breaks out of the intended parameter context and injects additional command arguments or entirely new commands.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2024-41710 is insufficient input validation and parameter sanitization in the firmware's boot process handling. Specifically, the system fails to properly escape or validate special characters and command delimiters in configuration parameters before passing them to shell commands. This allows an attacker to terminate the intended command context and inject arbitrary arguments or commands that execute with system-level privileges.

Attack Vector

The attack requires network access to the device's administrative interface and valid administrative credentials. An attacker who has obtained these credentials—through credential theft, social engineering, or exploitation of weak default passwords—can access the phone's configuration interface. By manipulating specific boot configuration parameters with specially crafted values containing command injection payloads, the attacker can cause arbitrary commands to execute when the device processes these parameters during boot or configuration reload.

The exploitation flow involves:

1. Authenticating to the Mitel phone's administrative interface with valid admin credentials
2. Modifying boot configuration parameters to include malicious argument injection payloads
3. Triggering a device reboot or configuration reload
4. Achieving arbitrary command execution within the system context

Due to the sensitive nature of this actively exploited vulnerability, specific exploitation code is not provided. Technical details regarding the vulnerability mechanism can be found in the GitHub CVE disclosure and the Mitel Security Advisory 24-0019.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-41710

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected device reboots or configuration changes on Mitel SIP phones
• Unauthorized administrative access attempts or successful logins from unusual IP addresses
• Anomalous processes or network connections originating from Mitel phone devices
• Modified boot configuration parameters containing suspicious special characters or shell metacharacters

Detection Strategies

• Monitor administrative authentication logs for unusual access patterns or failed login attempts followed by successful authentication
• Implement network segmentation monitoring to detect unexpected traffic patterns from VoIP phone subnets
• Deploy network-based intrusion detection systems (IDS) with signatures for Mitel device exploitation attempts
• Audit configuration changes on Mitel devices, particularly boot-related parameters

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable comprehensive logging on Mitel SIP phones and forward logs to a centralized SIEM solution
• Establish baseline network behavior for VoIP devices and alert on deviations
• Monitor for outbound connections from phone devices to unexpected destinations, which may indicate post-exploitation activity
• Regularly audit administrative accounts and credentials for unauthorized changes

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-41710

Immediate Actions Required

• Verify the firmware version of all Mitel 6800, 6900, 6900w Series phones and 6970 Conference Units in your environment
• Apply the security patch from Mitel immediately for any devices running firmware version R6.4.0.HF1 or earlier
• Review and rotate administrative credentials for all affected Mitel devices
• Implement network segmentation to isolate VoIP devices from general network traffic

Patch Information

Mitel has released security patches to address CVE-2024-41710. Organizations should immediately upgrade affected devices to the latest firmware version available from Mitel. Consult the Mitel Security Advisory 24-0019 for specific patched firmware versions and download instructions. Given the active exploitation of this vulnerability and its inclusion in the CISA KEV catalog, patching should be treated as an urgent priority.

Workarounds

• Restrict administrative access to Mitel phones to trusted management networks only using firewall rules or VLANs
• Implement strong, unique administrative passwords on all Mitel devices and consider disabling web-based administration if not required
• Deploy network access controls to limit which systems can communicate with phone administrative interfaces
• Monitor for exploitation attempts while awaiting patch deployment

# Example: Network segmentation for Mitel phones
# Restrict administrative access to management VLAN only
# Firewall rule example (syntax varies by vendor)
iptables -A INPUT -s 10.0.100.0/24 -d 10.0.50.0/24 -p tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -d 10.0.50.0/24 -p tcp --dport 443 -j DROP
# Where 10.0.100.0/24 is the management network and 10.0.50.0/24 is the VoIP VLAN