CVE-2022-40242Network attack vector

Root shell access via hard-coded SSH credentials

Published Dec 5, 2022 · Updated Apr 23, 2025

Hard-coded credentials in American Megatrends International MegaRAC SP-X allow remote attackers to access a UID 0 shell over SSH. The firmware stores a crackable default password hash for the sysadmin account in /etc/shadow and accepts the recovered shared credential through SSH. Knowledge of that default and network access to the BMC SSH service are sufficient to obtain an administrative shell.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability0.66%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Hard-coded credentials in American Megatrends International MegaRAC SP-X allow remote attackers to access a UID 0 shell over SSH. The firmware stores a crackable default password hash for the sysadmin account in /etc/shadow and accepts the recovered shared credential through SSH. Knowledge of that default and network access to the BMC SSH service are sufficient to obtain an administrative shell.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-40242
Published
Dec 5, 2022
Updated
Apr 23, 2025
Vendor
American Megatrends International
Product
MegaRAC SP-X
Classifications
CWE-798, CWE-287, CAPEC-115, T1078.001
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 5, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 23, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=0 <=SPx12-update-6.00
  2. Affected versionversion=0 <=SPx13-update-4.00

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

American Megatrends International · MegaRAC SP-Xversion=0 <=SPx12-update-6.00; version=0 <=SPx13-update-4.00

Published CVSS scores

9.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.5CERT/CCCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
8.3American Megatrends InternationalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-798Use of Hard-coded Credentials
CWE-287Improper Authentication
CAPEC-115Authentication Bypass
T1078.001Valid Accounts: Default Accounts

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo