Security Flaw in Wi-Fi Camera Leaves 400,000 Devices Vulnerable

A remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability exposing 120 products and 400,000 devices to remote attacks has been detected in the latest firmware of the D-Link DCS-930L Network Cloud Camera, Senrio reported.

Although the flaw was discovered in the latest firmware update of the camera, after analyzing the architecture of the product line, Senrio researchers concluded other affected products include Connected Home products like cameras, routers, access points, and modems.

“The vulnerability allows code injection which lets the attacker set a custom password, granting remote access to the camera feed. Thus, even if users create a strong password, this type of exploit can override it,” the report reads. “Instead of setting a new password as the exploit, an attacker could just as easily add a new user with administrator access, download firmware or otherwise re-configure this device.”

In spite of the wide adoption of IoT connected devices, robust security measures are often neglected, which could cause infrastructure meltdown. This is disturbing considering IoT and network embedded devices have been widely embraced by various industries, including for medical devices, nuclear power plants and traffic systems. In this case, a vulnerability would expose both consumers and enterprises to hijacking risks.

D-Link is investigating the problem, but in the meantime advises users to regularly change passwords. The older D-Link models will have to be removed from the market, as new releases will be available only for active products. Older models can still be used at users” risk.