CVE-2025-27459 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting the Endress+Hauser MEAC300-FNADE4 product, specifically its VNC application component. The vulnerability arises from the insecure storage of passwords within the Windows registry using DES (Data Encryption Standard) encryption. DES is a deprecated symmetric-key algorithm that has been considered broken for decades due to its short key length (56 bits), making it vulnerable to brute-force and cryptanalysis attacks. As a result, attackers with sufficient privileges can recover the original plaintext passwords from the encrypted values stored in the registry. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-257, which pertains to storing passwords in a recoverable format, indicating that the encryption method does not provide adequate protection against password disclosure. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 4.4 (medium), with the vector indicating local attack vector (AV:L), low attack complexity (AC:L), requiring high privileges (PR:H), no user interaction (UI:N), unchanged scope (S:U), and high impact on confidentiality (C:H) but no impact on integrity or availability (I:N/A:N). There are no known exploits in the wild, and no patches have been released at the time of publication. The vulnerability affects all versions of the product. Since the encryption is reversible and the passwords can be recovered by an attacker with local high privileges, this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized access to the VNC service or other systems relying on these credentials, potentially enabling lateral movement or further compromise within an industrial control environment where this product is deployed.

For European organizations using the Endress+Hauser MEAC300-FNADE4, particularly those in industrial automation, process control, or critical infrastructure sectors, this vulnerability poses a significant confidentiality risk. If an attacker gains local high-level access to the system, they can extract VNC passwords and potentially access remote control interfaces, leading to unauthorized control or monitoring of industrial processes. This could disrupt operations, cause safety hazards, or lead to data breaches. Given the critical nature of industrial control systems in sectors such as manufacturing, energy, water treatment, and pharmaceuticals, exploitation could have cascading effects on operational continuity and safety. Although the vulnerability does not directly impact integrity or availability, the compromise of credentials can facilitate further attacks that might. The requirement for high privileges limits the attack surface somewhat, but insider threats or attackers who have already compromised a system could leverage this vulnerability to escalate access. The lack of patches increases the urgency for organizations to implement compensating controls. The medium CVSS score reflects the balance between the high confidentiality impact and the requirement for local high privileges.

1. Restrict and monitor access to systems running the Endress+Hauser MEAC300-FNADE4 product to trusted personnel only, enforcing strict role-based access controls to minimize the risk of privilege escalation or insider threats. 2. Implement host-based intrusion detection and prevention systems (HIDS/HIPS) to detect unauthorized access attempts or suspicious activities on affected systems. 3. Regularly audit registry keys and system configurations to detect unauthorized changes or access to the stored password entries. 4. Where possible, isolate the affected devices within segmented network zones with strict firewall rules to limit lateral movement opportunities. 5. Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) on remote access services to reduce reliance on stored passwords and mitigate the impact of credential disclosure. 6. Engage with Endress+Hauser support to obtain updates or patches as soon as they become available and plan for timely deployment. 7. Consider deploying endpoint encryption or secure credential vault solutions that do not rely on reversible encryption methods like DES. 8. Educate system administrators and operators about the risks of this vulnerability and best practices for credential management in industrial environments.