CVE-2025-1214
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2025-1214 is a critical missing authorization vulnerability in PiHome 2.0's role-based access control system that allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and access restricted user account functionality. This affects all PiHome 2.0 installations with the vulnerable /user_accounts.php endpoint exposed.
💻 Affected Systems
- pihome-shc PiHome
📦 What is this software?
Maxair by Pihome
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise allowing attackers to modify user accounts, escalate privileges, access sensitive HVAC control systems, and potentially pivot to other network resources.
Likely Case
Unauthorized access to user management functions allowing account creation/modification/deletion, privilege escalation, and potential access to HVAC control interfaces.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper network segmentation and authentication controls, potentially only allowing enumeration of user accounts without modification capabilities.
🎯 Exploit Status
Public proof-of-concept demonstrates direct access to the vulnerable endpoint without authentication. Simple HTTP requests can trigger the vulnerability.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Unknown
Vendor Advisory: None available
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
No official patch available. Monitor PiHome project repositories for security updates. Consider workarounds or alternative software if no patch is forthcoming.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Web Server Access Control
linuxImplement web server-level access controls to restrict access to /user_accounts.php endpoint
# Apache: Add to .htaccess or virtual host config
<Files "user_accounts.php">
Require valid-user
AuthType Basic
AuthName "Restricted Access"
AuthUserFile /path/to/.htpasswd
</Files>
# Nginx: Add to server block
location ~ /user_accounts\.php$ {
auth_basic "Restricted Access";
auth_basic_user_file /path/to/.htpasswd;
}
Network Segmentation
linuxRestrict network access to PiHome web interface
# Example iptables rule to restrict access to specific IPs
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -s 192.168.1.0/24 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j DROP
# Or using ufw
sudo ufw allow from 192.168.1.0/24 to any port 80
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Immediately restrict network access to PiHome interface using firewall rules to allow only trusted IPs
- Implement additional authentication layer (reverse proxy with authentication) in front of PiHome web interface
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Attempt to access http://[pihome-ip]/user_accounts.php?uid=1 without authentication. If you can access user account management functions, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
Check PiHome web interface footer or about page, or examine PiHome installation directory for version files.Verify Fix Applied:
After implementing workarounds, verify that unauthenticated access to /user_accounts.php returns authentication required error (401) or access denied.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple 200 OK responses to /user_accounts.php from unauthenticated users
- Unusual user account creation/modification events
- Access attempts from unexpected IP addresses to sensitive endpoints
Network Indicators:
- HTTP GET requests to /user_accounts.php without preceding authentication requests
- Unusual traffic patterns to PiHome web interface
SIEM Query:
source="web_server_logs" AND (uri="/user_accounts.php" OR uri="/user_accounts.php?uid=*") AND response_code=200 AND NOT (user_agent="monitoring_tool" OR src_ip="trusted_ip")