VulnerabilityPublished 3 Jul 2025

CVE-2025-27461: Endress+Hauser MEAC300-FNADE4 · Missing Authorization

Affects Endress+Hauser MEAC300-FNADE4Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.6 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.6High

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 18% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Physical
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

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

Attack Vector: Physical: The attack requires the attacker to physically touch or manipulate the vulnerable component. Physical interaction may be brief or persistent.
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: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
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 3 Jul 2025
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

AI-suggested

Physical Security: Strengthen physical access controls to prevent unauthorized personnel from accessing the MEAC300-FNADE4 devices. This includes secure enclosures, surveillance, and access logging.
Network Segmentation: Isolate the affected devices on dedicated network segments with strict access controls to limit exposure to potentially compromised hosts.
Access Control Policies: Implement strict user access policies and monitor for any unauthorized login attempts or anomalous device behavior.
Device Configuration Review: Audit device startup and authentication configurations to identify any possible workarounds or temporary controls that can disable automatic login or require manual authentication.
Vendor Engagement: Engage with Endress+Hauser for official patches or firmware updates addressing this vulnerability. Monitor vendor advisories closely.
Incident Response Preparedness: Develop and rehearse incident response plans specific to industrial control system compromises, including containment and recovery strategies.
Network Monitoring: Deploy intrusion detection systems tailored for industrial protocols to detect suspicious activities around these devices.
Restrict Local Access: Limit local administrative access to trusted personnel only and consider multi-factor authentication mechanisms if supported.
Backup and Recovery: Maintain up-to-date backups of device configurations and critical data to enable rapid restoration in case of compromise. These measures go beyond generic advice by focusing on the specific nature of the vulnerability (automatic login without password) and the operational context of industrial control devices.

Description

During startup, the device automatically logs in the EPC2 Windows user without requesting a password.

Impact

For European organizations, especially those operating in industrial automation, manufacturing, and critical infrastructure sectors, this vulnerability poses a significant risk. The MEAC300-FNADE4 device is likely used in process control and monitoring systems, where unauthorized access could lead to manipulation or shutdown of industrial processes, resulting in operational downtime, safety hazards, and financial losses. The automatic login without authentication could allow attackers to inject malicious commands, alter sensor readings, or disrupt communication with supervisory control systems. Given the high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact, exploitation could also lead to data breaches involving sensitive operational data or intellectual property. In regulated industries, such as energy, chemicals, or pharmaceuticals, such a compromise could trigger compliance violations and regulatory penalties. The vulnerability's requirement for physical or local access somewhat limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate risk, as insider threats or attackers gaining initial footholds through other means could leverage this flaw to escalate privileges and move laterally within the network. The absence of known exploits in the wild provides a window for proactive defense, but the high severity demands urgent attention.

CWE-862Missing Authorization (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #4OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.
Architecture and Design
Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries.
Architecture and Design
Ensure that access control checks are performed related to the business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that are applied to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
V7.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Exploitation of Thunderbolt Protection Flaws (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

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Jul 2025, 11:55 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-862

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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