Bitdefender Identifies Security Vulnerabilities Enabling Man-in-the-Middle Exploits

Cybersecurity firm Bitdefender has disclosed two high-severity security vulnerabilities affecting its legacy BOX v1 device, exposing users to potential remote code execution and man-in-the-middle attacks.

The vulnerabilities, identified on March 12th, 2025, affect a product that is no longer sold or supported by the company, but the disclosure demonstrates Bitdefender’s ongoing commitment to security transparency even for discontinued products.

Critical Vulnerabilities in Legacy Hardware

The Bitdefender BOX v1, once marketed as a comprehensive security solution for smart homes, has been found to contain serious security flaws that could compromise entire networks.

Security researchers discovered two distinct vulnerabilities with identical CVSS scores of 9.4, indicating critical severity levels requiring immediate attention from any remaining users of the device.

The first vulnerability allows for unauthenticated command injection, while the second enables potential exploitation through an insecure update mechanism that is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks.

These findings are particularly troubling as they affect a device specifically designed to enhance network security.

When security appliances themselves become vectors for attack, the consequences can be far more severe than vulnerabilities in standard consumer electronics.

Network security devices typically have privileged access to traffic and connected devices, making them high-value targets for sophisticated threat actors seeking to compromise multiple systems simultaneously.

Technical Details of the Vulnerabilities

The first vulnerability (CVE-2024-13871) involves an unauthenticated command injection flaw in the /check_image_and_trigger_recovery API endpoint of Bitdefender BOX v1 devices running firmware version 1.3.11.490.

This security issue allows network-adjacent attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the device without requiring authentication credentials.

The potential impact includes full system compromise, with attackers gaining the ability to modify system configurations, access sensitive information, or use the device as a launching point for further network intrusions.

The second vulnerability (CVE-2024-13872) affects versions 1.3.11.490 through 1.3.11.505 and stems from the device’s use of insecure HTTP protocol when downloading updates over the internet.

The vulnerability can be triggered through the /set_temp_token API method, allowing network-adjacent attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks during the update process.

By intercepting and modifying the update traffic, attackers could potentially inject malicious code that would be executed with system privileges when the device restarts its daemons, leading to full remote code execution capabilities.

CVE ID	CVSS Score	Affected Product	Vulnerability Details	Remediation
CVE-2024-13871	9.4	Bitdefender BOX v1 (fw 1.3.11.490)	Command injection in /check_image_and_trigger_recovery API allowing unauthenticated code execution	Update to version 1.3.11.510
CVE-2024-13872	9.4	Bitdefender BOX v1 (v1.3.11.490-505)	Insecure HTTP protocol for updates enabling man-in-the-middle attacks	Product unsupported; upgrade recommended

The discovery and disclosure of these vulnerabilities highlight the persistent security challenges in IoT and network security devices.

Even as products reach end-of-life, their vulnerabilities can present ongoing risks to users who continue to deploy them.

Bitdefender’s disclosure of these issues, credited to their internal researchers and external security analyst Alan Cao, serves as an important reminder of the critical importance of lifecycle security management for all network-connected devices.

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