CVE-2025-28228: Electrolink Transmitter Info Disclosure

CVE-2025-28228 Overview

CVE-2025-28228 is a credential exposure vulnerability affecting Electrolink 500W, 1kW, and 2kW Medium DAB Transmitter Web Management interfaces. The vulnerability allows unauthorized attackers to access credentials stored in plaintext, presenting a significant risk to broadcast infrastructure security. This weakness falls under CWE-522 (Insufficiently Protected Credentials), indicating that the system fails to adequately protect sensitive authentication data from unauthorized access.

Electrolink transmitter systems are commonly deployed in broadcast infrastructure for FM, DAB, and TV transmission. The affected web management interfaces provide remote administration capabilities, making this credential exposure particularly concerning for organizations relying on these systems for critical broadcast operations.

Critical Impact

Unauthorized attackers can access administrative credentials in plaintext, potentially gaining full control over broadcast transmitter systems without authentication.

Affected Products

• Electrolink 500W, 1kW, 2kW Medium DAB Transmitter Web v01.09, v01.08, v01.07
• Electrolink Display v1.4, v1.2
• Electrolink FM/DAB/TV Transmitter Web Management System

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-04-18 - CVE-2025-28228 published to NVD
• 2025-08-07 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-28228

Vulnerability Analysis

This credential exposure vulnerability stems from the storage and transmission of authentication credentials in plaintext within the Electrolink transmitter web management system. The vulnerability is exploitable remotely over the network without requiring any prior authentication or user interaction, making it accessible to any attacker with network connectivity to the affected device.

The impact is focused on confidentiality, as successful exploitation grants attackers access to sensitive credential information. Once credentials are obtained, attackers could authenticate to the system with legitimate credentials, potentially gaining administrative control over broadcast transmitter operations.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-28228 is classified as CWE-522: Insufficiently Protected Credentials. The web management interface stores or transmits authentication credentials without proper encryption or obfuscation. This design flaw exposes credentials in plaintext format, allowing unauthorized parties to intercept or directly access these sensitive values through the web interface or underlying storage mechanisms.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for this vulnerability is network-based, requiring no authentication or user interaction. An attacker with network access to the transmitter's web management interface can exploit this vulnerability to retrieve credentials. The attack complexity is low, as no special conditions or sophisticated techniques are required to access the exposed credentials.

The exploitation scenario typically involves:

1. Identifying an Electrolink transmitter web management interface accessible over the network
2. Accessing specific endpoints or pages where credentials are exposed in plaintext
3. Harvesting the exposed credentials for subsequent authenticated access
4. Using obtained credentials to gain administrative control of the transmitter system

Technical details and proof-of-concept information are available at the GitHub vulnerability research repository published by the security researcher.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-28228

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual or unauthorized access patterns to the web management interface
• Authentication events using valid credentials from unexpected source IP addresses
• Multiple failed or successful login attempts from external or unknown networks
• Configuration changes to transmitter settings without authorized user activity

Detection Strategies

• Implement network traffic monitoring to detect plaintext credential transmission from transmitter devices
• Deploy intrusion detection rules to identify reconnaissance or access attempts targeting Electrolink management interfaces
• Monitor authentication logs for anomalous login activity following potential credential harvesting
• Configure alerts for web interface access from non-whitelisted IP addresses

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable comprehensive logging on all Electrolink transmitter web management interfaces
• Implement network segmentation monitoring to detect lateral movement from compromised transmitters
• Deploy file integrity monitoring on configuration files that may store credentials
• Establish baseline network behavior for transmitter systems to identify deviations

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-28228

Immediate Actions Required

• Isolate affected Electrolink transmitter web management interfaces from untrusted networks
• Implement network segmentation to restrict access to management interfaces to authorized administrative networks only
• Change all credentials associated with affected transmitter systems immediately
• Enable firewall rules to limit web interface access to specific trusted IP addresses

Patch Information

No vendor patch information is currently available in the CVE data. Organizations should contact Electrolink directly for firmware updates or security patches addressing this vulnerability. Monitor the vendor's official channels and security advisories for updates regarding affected firmware versions v01.09, v01.08, v01.07 for the Web interface and v1.4, v1.2 for Display systems.

Workarounds

• Deploy the transmitter management interface behind a VPN to prevent direct network exposure
• Implement network access control lists (ACLs) restricting management interface access to authorized administrative workstations
• Use a reverse proxy with authentication in front of the management interface as an additional security layer
• Disable remote management access if not operationally required and manage systems locally only

# Example network access restriction using iptables
# Restrict access to transmitter web interface (typically port 80/443) to trusted admin network only
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -s 192.168.10.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -s 192.168.10.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j DROP
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j DROP