CVE-2025-41378 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting Intellian Technologies' Iridium Certus 700 product, specifically version 1.0.1. The vulnerability arises from improper input validation (CWE-20) in the handling of the SSID field. The SSID field is not parsed correctly, allowing an attacker to inject arbitrary commands into the hostpad.conf file, which is a configuration file used by the hostapd service to manage wireless access points. By exploiting this flaw, an attacker with limited privileges (PR:L) and remote access (AV:A) but no user interaction (UI:N) can execute unauthorized commands on the device. This can lead to an extension of the attacker’s knowledge of the system and potentially compromise other connected devices within the network. The vulnerability does not require authentication (AT:N) and has low attack complexity (AC:L), increasing the risk of exploitation. However, the impact is limited to confidentiality as the vulnerability does not affect integrity or availability directly. The logs generated by the web panel filter the injected information, which may reduce the visibility of the attack but does not prevent exploitation. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been published yet. The CVSS 4.0 score of 6.9 reflects a medium severity level, primarily due to the ease of exploitation and the potential for lateral movement within the network. This vulnerability highlights the risk of improper input validation in embedded communication devices, which are critical for satellite and maritime communications.

For European organizations, especially those relying on satellite communication systems such as maritime operators, emergency services, and remote infrastructure providers, this vulnerability poses a significant risk. Exploitation could allow attackers to gain deeper access to the internal network by compromising the Iridium Certus 700 device, potentially leading to unauthorized data access or further network intrusion. Given the device’s role in providing broadband satellite connectivity, disruption or compromise could affect critical communications, operational continuity, and data confidentiality. The ability to inject commands into configuration files may also enable attackers to establish persistent footholds or pivot to other connected systems. Although no direct availability or integrity impact is noted, the confidentiality breach and potential lateral movement could have cascading effects on sensitive operations. The filtering of logs may hinder detection and incident response efforts, increasing the risk of prolonged undetected compromise. Organizations in sectors such as maritime transport, offshore energy, and remote field operations in Europe are particularly vulnerable due to their reliance on such satellite communication equipment.

1. Immediate mitigation should include restricting network access to the Iridium Certus 700 device to trusted management networks only, minimizing exposure to remote attackers. 2. Implement strict input validation and sanitization controls on all user-controllable fields, especially SSID inputs, to prevent command injection. 3. Monitor device logs and network traffic for unusual patterns indicative of command injection attempts or lateral movement, despite log filtering. 4. Employ network segmentation to isolate the satellite communication device from critical internal systems, limiting the impact of potential compromise. 5. Coordinate with Intellian Technologies for timely release and deployment of patches or firmware updates addressing this vulnerability. 6. Conduct regular security assessments and penetration tests focusing on satellite communication devices to identify and remediate similar weaknesses. 7. Use host-based intrusion detection systems (HIDS) on connected devices to detect abnormal behavior stemming from compromised satellite communication equipment. 8. Establish incident response procedures specific to satellite communication infrastructure to rapidly contain and remediate exploitation attempts.