CVE-2021-44769 is a vulnerability identified in the Lanner Inc IAC-AST2500A device, specifically in its standard firmware version 1.10.0. The issue stems from improper input validation (classified under CWE-20) within the TLS certificate generation function. This flaw allows an attacker to trigger a Denial-of-Service (DoS) condition by supplying malformed or malicious input during the certificate generation process. The consequence of exploitation is that the device becomes non-functional and can only be restored to operational status through a factory reset, which likely results in loss of configuration and operational downtime. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 4.9, indicating a medium severity level. The vector metrics indicate that the attack can be performed remotely over the network (AV:N), requires low attack complexity (AC:L), but needs high privileges (PR:H) and no user interaction (UI:N). The scope remains unchanged (S:U), and the impact is solely on availability (A:H) with no confidentiality or integrity impact. No known exploits are reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked, suggesting that mitigation may require vendor intervention or manual configuration changes. The vulnerability was published on October 24, 2022, and is recognized by CISA, indicating its relevance in cybersecurity monitoring frameworks.

For European organizations utilizing the Lanner IAC-AST2500A device, this vulnerability poses a significant operational risk. The device’s failure due to a DoS attack could disrupt critical network functions or services relying on this hardware, leading to downtime and potential loss of productivity. Since recovery requires a factory reset, organizations may face extended outages and the need to reconfigure devices, which can be resource-intensive. Although the vulnerability does not compromise data confidentiality or integrity, the availability impact can affect business continuity, especially in sectors where these devices are part of essential infrastructure such as telecommunications, industrial control systems, or enterprise networking. The requirement for high privileges to exploit the vulnerability somewhat limits the attack surface to insiders or attackers who have already gained elevated access, but this does not eliminate the risk, particularly in environments with complex access controls or insufficient internal security monitoring.

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should first verify if they are running the affected firmware version 1.10.0 on their Lanner IAC-AST2500A devices. Since no official patches are currently linked, organizations should engage with Lanner Inc to obtain firmware updates or security advisories addressing this issue. In the interim, restricting administrative access to the device’s management interfaces is critical to prevent unauthorized high-privilege interactions. Implement network segmentation and access control lists (ACLs) to limit exposure of the device to trusted management networks only. Monitoring and logging administrative actions can help detect attempts to exploit the vulnerability. Additionally, organizations should prepare incident response plans that include procedures for rapid factory reset and device reconfiguration to minimize downtime if exploitation occurs. Regular backups of device configurations should be maintained to expedite recovery post-reset. Finally, consider deploying intrusion detection systems (IDS) or anomaly detection tools to identify unusual certificate generation requests or DoS patterns targeting these devices.