VulnerabilityPublished 12 Jan 2024Updated 3 Jun 2025

CVE-2023-49255: Hongdian H8951-4G-ESP · Missing Authentication

Affects Hongdian H8951-4G-ESPSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.8 Critical.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 11:42 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

9.8Critical

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 53% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 12 Jan 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Hongdian H8951-4G-ESP	Affected =0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Immediate mitigation steps include isolating the affected Hongdian H8951-4G-ESP routers from untrusted networks to limit exposure. Network segmentation should be enforced to restrict access to the router’s management interface only to trusted administrative hosts. Administrators should monitor network traffic for unusual access patterns or unauthorized configuration changes. Since no patches are currently available, organizations should consider replacing affected devices with alternatives from vendors with a stronger security track record. If replacement is not immediately feasible, implementing strict firewall rules to block access to the router’s webadmin interface from external networks is critical. Additionally, enforcing multi-factor authentication (MFA) on management interfaces, if supported, can reduce risk. Regularly auditing user sessions and logs for signs of session hijacking or unauthorized access attempts is recommended. Vendors and users should engage with Hongdian to prioritize the release of a security patch addressing the authentication and session management flaws. Finally, organizations should update their incident response plans to include scenarios involving router compromise and ensure backups of router configurations are maintained securely.

Description

The router console is accessible without authentication at "data" field, and while a user needs to be logged in in order to modify the configuration, the session state is shared. If any other user is currently logged in, the anonymous user can execute commands in the context of the authenticated one. If the logged in user has administrative privileges, it is possible to use webadmin service configuration commands to create a new admin user with a chosen password.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk, especially for those relying on Hongdian H8951-4G-ESP routers in their network infrastructure. The ability for an unauthenticated attacker to gain administrative access can lead to full compromise of the affected routers, enabling attackers to intercept, modify, or disrupt network traffic, deploy malware, or use the device as a pivot point for further attacks within the network. This can severely impact confidentiality by exposing sensitive data, integrity by allowing unauthorized configuration changes, and availability by potentially disabling network services. Critical infrastructure operators, industrial control systems, and enterprises using these routers could face operational disruptions, data breaches, and compliance violations under GDPR and other regulations. The shared session state flaw also means that even legitimate users logged into the device are at risk of session hijacking, increasing the attack surface. Given the router’s role in 4G connectivity, organizations relying on cellular backup or primary connections may experience outages or data interception. The absence of known exploits in the wild does not reduce the urgency due to the ease of exploitation and critical impact.

CWE-306Missing Authentication for Critical Function (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #21OWASP Top 10 A07:2025: Authentication Failures (opens in a new tab)
The product does not perform any authentication for functionality that requires a provable user identity or consumes a significant amount of resources.
Architecture and Design
Divide the software into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Identify which of these areas require a proven user identity, and use a centralized authentication capability.
Architecture and Design
For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks…
Architecture and Design
Where possible, avoid implementing custom, "grow-your-own" authentication routines and consider using authentication capabilities as provided by the surrounding framework, operating system, or environment.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
OWASP Authentication (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.2.3 (opens in a new tab)
V1.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
V1.2.4 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Choosing Message Identifier (opens in a new tab)
Force the System to Reset Values (opens in a new tab)
Using Unpublished Interfaces or Functionality (opens in a new tab)
Cross Site Request Forgery (opens in a new tab)
Communication Channel Manipulation (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 4 Jul 2025, 14:26 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-306

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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