Remote control via hard-coded MQTT credentials
Published Apr 17, 2023 · Updated Feb 6, 2025
Hard-coded credentials in Electra Central AC Unit V4 and V5 firmware allow remote attackers to read unit data and issue MQTT commands. The controller firmware embeds reusable MQTT connection credentials that can be extracted and used to connect to the Internet-facing broker. No prior account or user action is required, and broker access permits publication of commands that change air-conditioner operation.
Summary
What happened
Hard-coded credentials in Electra Central AC Unit V4 and V5 firmware allow remote attackers to read unit data and issue MQTT commands. The controller firmware embeds reusable MQTT connection credentials that can be extracted and used to connect to the Internet-facing broker. No prior account or user action is required, and broker access permits publication of commands that change air-conditioner operation.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-24501
- Published
- Apr 17, 2023
- Updated
- Feb 6, 2025
- Vendor
- Electra Air
- Product
- Electra Central AC Unit
- Classifications
- CWE-798, T1552.001
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 17, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 6, 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.
- Affected versionversion=Update to the latest version <V4 & V5*
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Public exploit references
- Electra MQTT credential reuse demonstrationfunctional · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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