CVE-2020-10279
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2020-10279 is a critical vulnerability in MiR robot controllers that allows attackers to escalate privileges and potentially gain full control of robotic systems. The vulnerability stems from insecure default configurations in Ubuntu 16.04.2, including file creation issues, race conditions, and insecure home directory settings. This affects organizations using MiR robotic systems in industrial, healthcare, or logistics environments.
💻 Affected Systems
- MiR robot controllers (central computation unit)
📦 What is this software?
Er Flex Firmware by Enabled Robotics
Er Lite Firmware by Enabled Robotics
Er One Firmware by Enabled Robotics
Er200 Firmware by Mobile Industrial Robotics
Mir100 Firmware by Aliasrobotics
Mir1000 Firmware by Aliasrobotics
Mir200 Firmware by Aliasrobotics
Mir250 Firmware by Aliasrobotics
Mir500 Firmware by Aliasrobotics
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete compromise of robotic systems allowing attackers to manipulate robot operations, cause physical damage, steal sensitive data, or use robots as footholds into industrial networks.
Likely Case
Unauthorized privilege escalation leading to unauthorized access to robot control systems, potential data exfiltration, and disruption of robotic operations.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper network segmentation and access controls, though local privilege escalation risks remain.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation details are publicly documented in the RVD repository, making this relatively easy to exploit.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Updated Ubuntu configuration or MiR controller software
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/aliasrobotics/RVD/issues/2569
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Contact MiR for official patches or updates. 2. Update Ubuntu 16.04.2 security configurations. 3. Apply security hardening to robot controllers. 4. Restart affected systems.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Ubuntu Security Hardening
linuxApply security hardening to Ubuntu 16.04.2 to mitigate insecure defaults
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install unattended-upgrades
sudo dpkg-reconfigure --priority=low unattended-upgrades
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw default deny incoming
sudo ufw default allow outgoing
Access Control Restrictions
linuxImplement strict access controls and file permission restrictions
sudo chmod 750 /home/*
sudo chmod 700 /root
sudo setfacl -R -m u:www-data:--- /home/*
sudo find /home -type f -exec chmod 600 {} \;
sudo find /home -type d -exec chmod 700 {} \;
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Network segmentation: Isolate MiR robots in dedicated VLANs with strict firewall rules
- Access control: Implement strict authentication and authorization controls, disable unnecessary services
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Ubuntu version with 'lsb_release -a' and verify if running 16.04.2. Review file permissions and home directory configurations.Check Version:
lsb_release -aVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Ubuntu version is updated and security hardening measures are applied. Test privilege escalation attempts.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Failed authentication attempts
- Unusual file permission changes
- Privilege escalation attempts in system logs
- Unauthorized access to home directories
Network Indicators:
- Unexpected network connections to/from robot controllers
- Traffic patterns indicating exploitation attempts
SIEM Query:
source="*syslog*" AND ("permission denied" OR "privilege escalation" OR "unauthorized access") AND (host="*mir*" OR host="*robot*")