CVE-2020-9306
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows attackers to gain unauthorized access to Tesla SolarCity Solar Monitoring Gateway devices through hard-coded credentials stored in plaintext. Affected systems include Digi ConnectPort X2e devices running vulnerable firmware versions, potentially exposing solar monitoring infrastructure to compromise.
💻 Affected Systems
- Tesla SolarCity Solar Monitoring Gateway
- Digi ConnectPort X2e
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete device takeover allowing attackers to manipulate solar monitoring data, disrupt energy monitoring, pivot to internal networks, or use devices as footholds for further attacks.
Likely Case
Unauthorized access to monitoring systems allowing data theft, configuration changes, or service disruption of solar monitoring capabilities.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if devices are properly segmented and access controls prevent credential use from being leveraged for further access.
🎯 Exploit Status
FireEye has published detailed exploitation techniques. Attackers can extract credentials from the .pyc file and gain access without authentication.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Versions after 5.46.43
Vendor Advisory: https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Check current firmware version. 2. Contact Tesla/SolarCity support for firmware update. 3. Apply firmware update to version newer than 5.46.43. 4. Restart device after update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Segmentation
allIsolate Solar Monitoring Gateway devices from internet and restrict internal network access
Credential Rotation
linuxChange python user password if device allows credential modification
passwd python
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation to isolate affected devices
- Monitor for unauthorized access attempts and credential usage
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check firmware version via device web interface or SSH if accessible. Versions 5.46.43 and earlier are vulnerable.Check Version:
ssh python@device_ip 'cat /etc/version' or check web interfaceVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm firmware version is newer than 5.46.43 and attempt to authenticate with hard-coded credentials should fail.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Failed authentication attempts for python user
- Successful logins from unexpected IPs
- Unauthorized configuration changes
Network Indicators:
- SSH connections to port 22 from unexpected sources
- Unusual outbound traffic from monitoring devices
SIEM Query:
source="solar_gateway" AND (event="authentication" AND user="python") OR (event="configuration_change")🔗 References
- https://github.com/fireeye/Vulnerability-Disclosures/blob/master/FEYE-2020-0019/FEYE-2020-0019.md
- https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research.html
- https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2021/02/solarcity-exploitation-of-x2e-iot-device-part-one.html
- https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2021/02/solarcity-exploitation-of-x2e-iot-device-part-two.html
- https://github.com/fireeye/Vulnerability-Disclosures/blob/master/FEYE-2020-0019/FEYE-2020-0019.md
- https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research.html
- https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2021/02/solarcity-exploitation-of-x2e-iot-device-part-one.html
- https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2021/02/solarcity-exploitation-of-x2e-iot-device-part-two.html
