CVE-2025-50122: Insufficient Entropy Vulnerability

CVE-2025-50122 Overview

CVE-2025-50122 is an insufficient entropy vulnerability [CWE-331] affecting a Schneider Electric product. The flaw resides in the algorithm used to generate the root account password during installation or upgrade. An attacker with access to installation or upgrade artifacts can reverse engineer the algorithm and recover the root password. Successful exploitation grants full administrative control over the affected device. The vulnerability is reachable from an adjacent network and requires no authentication or user interaction.

Critical Impact
An adjacent-network attacker who reverse engineers the password generation algorithm can recover the root password, gaining full administrative control over the affected device.

Affected Products

Schneider Electric product (refer to vendor advisory SEVD-2025-189-01 for specific models and firmware versions)
Installations using the predictable root password generation routine
Systems upgraded using affected installation artifacts

Discovery Timeline

2025-07-11 - CVE-2025-50122 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-50122

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability stems from a weak password generation routine that produces root credentials with insufficient entropy. The generation algorithm is embedded within installation and upgrade artifacts shipped with the product. An attacker who obtains these artifacts can statically analyze the binary and reconstruct the algorithm. Once reconstructed, the attacker can derive valid root passwords for any device provisioned by that routine.

The weakness falls under [CWE-331] Insufficient Entropy. Secrets generated through deterministic or low-entropy sources fail to resist offline analysis. Because the root account typically maps to the highest privilege level on the device, recovery of this credential yields complete confidentiality, integrity, and availability compromise.

The attack vector is adjacent network, meaning the attacker must reach the device over a shared logical network segment. No user interaction or prior authentication is required to use the recovered credential against an exposed management interface.

Root Cause

The root cause is the use of a predictable or low-entropy seed or transformation when generating the device root password. Rather than relying on a cryptographically secure random source bound to per-device unpredictable state, the routine derives the password from values that are recoverable through reverse engineering of installation media.

Attack Vector

An attacker first obtains installation or upgrade artifacts, which are often distributed publicly by the vendor or extractable from a peer device. The attacker then reverse engineers the password generation function to recover the algorithm and any inputs. With the algorithm in hand, the attacker computes the root password for a target device on the same adjacent network. The attacker then authenticates to the root account through SSH, a serial console, a web interface, or another exposed management service. No verified public exploit code was available at the time of writing. See the Schneider Electric Security Notice and the Full Disclosure Mailing List Post for vendor-published details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-50122

Indicators of Compromise

Successful root logins from unexpected hosts on the adjacent management network
Authentication attempts to root accounts on devices that should not receive interactive logins
New SSH key entries, configuration changes, or firmware modifications attributed to the root user
Outbound connections originating from device management interfaces shortly after a successful root login

Detection Strategies

Audit local accounts on affected devices and compare current password hashes against known-default or known-derived values from installation artifacts
Enable verbose authentication logging on device management services and forward events to a centralized log platform
Correlate root authentication events with network access events on the adjacent management VLAN
Inspect installation media distribution channels for unauthorized downloads that could indicate algorithm reconstruction activity

Monitoring Recommendations

Continuously monitor management plane interfaces (SSH, HTTPS, serial-over-IP) for authentication anomalies
Alert on any successful root login that does not originate from an approved administrative jump host
Track configuration baselines on affected devices and flag any drift introduced through privileged accounts
Monitor for lateral movement from compromised devices into adjacent OT or IT segments

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-50122

Immediate Actions Required

Apply the remediation specified in Schneider Electric advisory SEVD-2025-189-01 as soon as it is available for your product version
Rotate the root password on every affected device using a cryptographically strong, manually generated value
Restrict management interfaces to a dedicated administrative network segment with strict access control lists
Inventory installation and upgrade artifacts and limit their distribution to authorized personnel only

Patch Information

Refer to the Schneider Electric Security Notice SEVD-2025-189-01 for the authoritative list of affected products, fixed versions, and remediation steps. The advisory describes the vendor's mitigation for the insufficient entropy condition and the procedure for rotating the root credential safely after upgrade.

Workarounds

Disable remote management protocols on affected devices where operationally feasible
Place affected devices behind a firewall that restricts adjacent network access to a minimal set of authorized administrative hosts
Use a bastion host with multi-factor authentication for all privileged access to device management interfaces
Treat installation and upgrade artifacts as sensitive material and store them in access-controlled repositories with download auditing