CVE-2023-25931 Explained : Impact and Mitigation

This CVE-2023-25931, assigned by Medtronic, pertains to a password vulnerability found in the Pelvic Health clinician apps - Micro Clinician and InterStim X Clinician - installed on the Smart Programmer mobile device.

Understanding CVE-2023-25931

This vulnerability requires a security update to fix, as identified by Medtronic. Failure to update could lead to unauthorized control of the clinician therapy application, providing greater control over therapy parameters than the patient app. Unauthorized access necessitates physical access to the Smart Programmer.

What is CVE-2023-25931?

Medtronic discovered a vulnerability in the Pelvic Health clinician apps on the Smart Programmer device, allowing unauthorized control of the clinician therapy application, potentially compromising therapy parameters.

The Impact of CVE-2023-25931

The vulnerability poses a medium-level threat (CVSS base score: 6.4) with a high impact on availability and integrity. It requires low attack complexity and physical access to exploit, maintaining unchanged scope.

Technical Details of CVE-2023-25931

This vulnerability, identified by Medtronic, falls under the CWE-620 category, specifically related to an Unverified Password Change scenario.

Vulnerability Description

The vulnerability involves a password vulnerability in the Pelvic Health clinician apps, allowing unauthorized control of therapy parameters on the Smart Programmer device.

Affected Systems and Versions

The affected products include InsterStim Applications by Medtronic. Versions A51200 and A51300 of Micro Clinician and InterStim X Clinician are impacted.

Exploitation Mechanism

While there are currently no known exploits for this vulnerability, unauthorized access requires physical access to the Smart Programmer device.

Mitigation and Prevention

To address CVE-2023-25931, Medtronic has released security updates for the affected applications, mitigating the password vulnerability.

Immediate Steps to Take

Ensure that the affected applications (Micro Clinician and InterStim X Clinician) are updated to the latest versions provided by Medtronic to prevent unauthorized access.

Long-Term Security Practices

Adopt robust password management practices and regularly update applications to mitigate potential vulnerabilities in the future.

Patching and Updates

Refer to Medtronic's Security Bulletin for detailed guidance on patching and updating the Pelvic Health clinician apps to secure against unauthorized access.