CVE-2025-1711: Endress Meac300 Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2025-1711 Overview

CVE-2025-1711 affects the Endress MEAC300-FNADE4 firmware, an industrial emissions monitoring device. Multiple services on the device under test (DUT), along with different scopes of the same service, reuse identical credentials. This shared-credential design weakness falls under [CWE-1392] (Use of Default Credentials) and allows network-based attackers to access multiple services once a single credential is compromised. The flaw is exploitable remotely without authentication or user interaction. The vulnerability was published to the NVD on July 3, 2025, with vendor coordination through the SICK PSIRT.

Critical Impact

Network-adjacent attackers who recover credentials from one service gain access across multiple services and scopes on the same device, enabling broad information disclosure on industrial monitoring equipment.

Affected Products

• Endress MEAC300-FNADE4 firmware (all versions per advisory)
• Endress MEAC300-FNADE4 hardware appliance
• Industrial emissions monitoring deployments using the affected firmware

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-07-03 - CVE-2025-1711 published to NVD
• 2026-01-29 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-1711

Vulnerability Analysis

The MEAC300-FNADE4 exposes several network services used for device administration, telemetry, and configuration. These services share a single credential set rather than enforcing per-service or per-scope authentication boundaries. An attacker who recovers, intercepts, or brute-forces a credential for one service can immediately authenticate to every other service that reuses it. The shared credential pattern also spans different scopes within the same service, eliminating the separation expected between privileged and unprivileged operations.

The vulnerability impacts confidentiality on the device. Industrial monitoring data, configuration parameters, and operational state become reachable across the entire credential reuse surface once a single secret is exposed.

Root Cause

The root cause is a design weakness categorized as [CWE-1392]. The firmware authenticates users against a shared credential store consumed by multiple independent services. There is no service-level or scope-level isolation enforced during authentication, meaning identity material is treated as universally valid across the device.

Attack Vector

The vulnerability is reachable over the network with no privileges and no user interaction required. An attacker on the same network segment as the device can attempt authentication against any exposed service. Industrial environments frequently expose such management interfaces across flat OT networks, increasing reachability.

No public proof-of-concept code is available. The vulnerability is described in the SICK PSIRT advisory and the corresponding CSAF report referenced below.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-1711

Indicators of Compromise

• Authentication events on the MEAC300-FNADE4 originating from unexpected source IP addresses or outside maintenance windows
• Repeated successful logins to multiple device services from the same client within a short interval, suggesting credential reuse exploitation
• Configuration or telemetry data exports initiated by accounts not associated with operations personnel

Detection Strategies

• Inspect network flows to and from MEAC300-FNADE4 devices for authentication traffic on management ports from non-engineering workstations
• Correlate access logs across all device services to identify a single credential being used across multiple service contexts in close succession
• Baseline expected administrative sessions and alert on deviations in source, frequency, or scope of service access

Monitoring Recommendations

• Forward device authentication and configuration-change logs to a centralized SIEM or data lake for cross-service correlation
• Monitor OT network segments for lateral access patterns between engineering workstations and field devices
• Track outbound connections from monitoring devices that could indicate data exfiltration following credential abuse

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-1711

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network reachability of MEAC300-FNADE4 management interfaces to a dedicated management VLAN or jump host
• Rotate all credentials configured on affected devices and avoid reusing the same secret across multiple integrations
• Review the SICK PSIRT advisory and the CSAF report for vendor-supplied remediation guidance

Patch Information

Refer to the SICK PSIRT portal and the CSAF report (sca-2025-0008) for the authoritative list of fixed firmware versions and upgrade procedures. Coordinate firmware updates with operations to avoid disrupting emissions monitoring continuity.

Workarounds

• Place affected devices behind a firewall that restricts access to the management interface to known engineering hosts only
• Apply the CISA ICS Recommended Practices for network segmentation between IT and OT zones
• Disable any unused services on the device to reduce the credential reuse exposure surface
• Monitor for anomalous authentication patterns until firmware remediation is deployed