CVE-2025-54860 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting the Cognex In-Sight 2000 series devices, specifically version 5.x of the In-Sight Explorer software and the In-Sight Camera Firmware. These devices expose a telnet-based management service on port 23, which is used for critical device management operations such as firmware upgrades and device reboots. Although the service requires authentication, the vulnerability arises from improper handling of login failures. This flaw allows an attacker to perform a denial-of-service (DoS) attack by causing the telnet service to become unreachable. The underlying weakness is classified under CWE-307, which refers to improper restriction of excessive authentication attempts. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.7, indicating a high severity, with the vector indicating local attack vector (AV:L), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), no user interaction (UI:N), unchanged scope (S:U), no confidentiality impact (C:N), high integrity impact (I:H), and high availability impact (A:H). This means an attacker with local network access can exploit the vulnerability without authentication or user interaction, causing significant integrity and availability issues by disrupting the telnet management service. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability poses a serious risk to operational continuity and device management capabilities in environments using these devices.

For European organizations, especially those in manufacturing, industrial automation, and quality control sectors that rely on Cognex In-Sight 2000 series devices for machine vision and inspection tasks, this vulnerability could lead to significant operational disruptions. The denial-of-service condition on the telnet management interface can prevent legitimate administrators from performing critical management functions such as firmware upgrades and device reboots, potentially halting production lines or quality assurance processes. The high integrity impact suggests that attackers could interfere with device management, possibly causing unauthorized changes or preventing legitimate changes, which could degrade product quality or safety. The availability impact could lead to downtime and increased maintenance costs. Given the local attack vector, attackers would need network access to the devices, which in many industrial environments may be segmented but not always fully isolated, increasing risk if network segmentation or access controls are weak. The lack of confidentiality impact means data leakage is not a primary concern, but the disruption to device management and potential operational downtime represent a critical threat to business continuity and safety compliance in European industrial contexts.

1. Network Segmentation: Isolate the In-Sight 2000 series devices on dedicated, secure network segments with strict access controls to limit exposure to untrusted users. 2. Access Control: Implement strong network-level access controls such as firewall rules and VLANs to restrict access to port 23 (telnet) only to authorized management stations. 3. Replace Telnet: Where possible, disable the telnet service and replace it with more secure management protocols such as SSH or vendor-supported secure management interfaces. 4. Monitoring and Alerting: Deploy network monitoring to detect unusual telnet connection attempts or repeated failed login attempts that could indicate exploitation attempts. 5. Vendor Coordination: Engage with Cognex for patches or firmware updates addressing this vulnerability, and apply them promptly once available. 6. Incident Response Preparedness: Prepare response plans for potential DoS conditions affecting device management, including manual recovery procedures. 7. Limit Physical and Network Access: Ensure physical security of devices and restrict network access to trusted personnel and systems only. 8. Regular Audits: Conduct regular security audits of industrial control networks to verify that access controls and segmentation are effective and that vulnerable devices are identified and managed.