
Executive Summary
- Vulnerability: CVE-2025-46419 is a denial-of-service flaw in Westermo WeOS 5 network operating system. A malicious, specially crafted ESP (Encapsulating Security Payload) packet can cause a device reboot — disrupting network availability.
- Affected Versions: WeOS versions 5.23.0 and earlier.
- Impact: Network devices (routers/switches) can be taken down, affecting availability, operations; possible chained attacks (if reboot loops lead to timing adversary windows).
- Status: High severity. Patches released in versions > 5.23.0. Urgent for industrial, SCADA, telecom, field networks using WeOS devices.
Technical Details
- Attack vector: Network attacker (or misconfigured peer) sends crafted IPsec ESP packet to WeOS device. Upon processing it, the kernel fails safely, triggering a reboot.
- Attack prerequisites: ability to send ESP-encrypted or malformed ESP packet; possibly knowledge of device IP and open IPsec endpoint.
- Not remote code execution, but availability loss, possibly repeated.
- Adversary lever: ASP-Peer / VPN tunnels or known IPsec endpoints; misconfigured or open endpoints increase risk.
Threat Model & Affected Use Cases
- Industrial / field networks using WeOS for routing between field sites (SCADA / telemetry).
- Telecom or network backhaul where WeOS routers are used as edge devices.
- Organizations using IPsec tunnels to connect remote offices or branches.
- DMZ / perimeter routers with ESP endpoints exposed.
Detection & Indicators
- ESP packet logs showing malformed or unexpected parameters (length, checksum, replay issues).
- Device logs (kernel / OS) showing abrupt reboots, crash events tied to IPsec / ESP processing.
- System uptime metrics dropping repeatedly; correlation with traffic spikes on IPsec interfaces.
- Packet captures showing ESP packets from external IPs to WeOS device — verify shape/size anomalies.
Mitigations & Recommended Actions
Immediate Measures
- Upgrade WeOS devices to fixed version (> 5.23.0) (check vendor advisory).
- Apply access controls: restrict who can send ESP packets (ACLs on IPsec endpoints); limit exposure to trusted peers only.
- Monitoring & Alerting: uptime/reboot detection; IPsec endpoint logs; alert when device restarts unexpectedly.
Mid-Term
- Deploy packet filters / IPS to drop malformed ESP packets (or restrict ESP to known source IPs / peers).
- Enforce rate-limiting / packet inspection at perimeter; consider using firewalls that validate ESP format.
- Review and lock down VPN/IPsec configurations; disable any optional or legacy ESP parameter features where vendor allows.
Long Term & Resilience
- Network redundancy: ensure alternate paths / device failover if critical device rebooted.
- Firmware monitoring & patch management for network OS devices in SCADA/OT/telecom environments.
- Incident response playbooks for device availability issues.
Risk & Likelihood
- Likelihood: moderate to high in networked environments with exposed IPsec endpoints and where patches are delayed.
- Risk: high for availability, especially mission-critical or field‐deployed devices. Disruption could cascade (if router reboots affect multiple downstream nodes).
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