CVE-2021-30165
📋 TL;DR
EDIMAX wireless network cameras have a hard-coded default administrator account and password in their firmware. Remote attackers can extract these credentials by reverse-engineering the firmware, then gain privileged access to control the devices. All users of affected EDIMAX camera models are vulnerable.
💻 Affected Systems
- EDIMAX wireless network cameras
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers gain full administrative control of cameras, enabling them to view live feeds, disable cameras, modify settings, or use cameras as footholds into internal networks.
Likely Case
Attackers compromise cameras to spy on private areas, disable security monitoring, or use devices in botnets for DDoS attacks.
If Mitigated
With proper network segmentation and access controls, impact is limited to camera functionality without network lateral movement.
🎯 Exploit Status
Attackers need to extract credentials from firmware first, but once obtained, exploitation is trivial.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Not specified
Vendor Advisory: https://www.twcert.org.tw/tw/cp-132-4670-359c8-1.html
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
No official patch available. Contact EDIMAX for firmware updates or replacement options.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Change Default Credentials
allImmediately change the administrator password to a strong, unique password.
Login to camera web interface > Administration > Change Password
Network Segmentation
allPlace cameras on isolated VLANs with strict firewall rules preventing internet access.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Remove cameras from internet-facing positions and place behind VPN or strict firewall
- Implement network monitoring for suspicious access attempts to camera management interfaces
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if you can login with default credentials (consult device documentation for defaults) or if firmware contains hard-coded credentials.Check Version:
Check camera web interface > System Information > Firmware VersionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify you cannot login with default credentials and only strong custom credentials work.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Failed login attempts followed by successful admin login
- Configuration changes from unknown IPs
Network Indicators:
- Unexpected traffic from camera to external IPs
- Brute-force attempts on camera management ports
SIEM Query:
source="camera_logs" AND (event="login_success" AND user="admin")