Physical BIOS reconfiguration via missing administrator password
Published Dec 2, 2025 · Updated Aug 26, 2026
Improper authentication in Entrust nShield Connect XC, nShield 5c, and nShield HSMi allows physically proximate attackers to alter BIOS settings. The appliance BIOS grants Administrator setup access without a password, exposing EFI-shell boot, boot-drive, VT-d, and PCIe Option ROM settings. Physical access plus a USB port enabled during boot is required; affected releases include 13.6.11 and earlier and 13.7, while the embedded HSM and its keys remain inaccessible.
Summary
What happened
Improper authentication in Entrust nShield Connect XC, nShield 5c, and nShield HSMi allows physically proximate attackers to alter BIOS settings. The appliance BIOS grants Administrator setup access without a password, exposing EFI-shell boot, boot-drive, VT-d, and PCIe Option ROM settings. Physical access plus a USB port enabled during boot is required; affected releases include 13.6.11 and earlier and 13.7, while the embedded HSM and its keys remain inaccessible.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-59704
- Published
- Dec 2, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 26, 2026
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-287, T1200
- Attack vector
- physical
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 2, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 26, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
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
- nShield Connect XC insecure boot-chain proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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