Devices used in the energy, transportation and communications sectors are also affected by the flaws in the TCP/IP software library
Hundreds of millions of connected devices may be vulnerable to remote attacks due to a series of 19 vulnerabilities in a popular TCP/IP software library developed by a software company called Treck. Collectively dubbed Ripple20, the flaws affect IoT devices produced by specialized boutique vendors as well as multiple Fortune 500 companies, according to Israel-based security company JSOF, which discovered the security holes.
Vulnerable products include smart-home devices, industrial control systems, medical and healthcare systems, and even devices used in key parts of infrastructure such as energy, transportation, communication and the government and national security sectors.
JSOF highlighted a few possible high-risk scenarios that could occur if these flaws were to be weaponized:
“Data could be stolen off of a printer, an infusion pump behavior changed, or industrial control devices could be made to malfunction. An attacker could hide malicious code within embedded devices for years. One of the vulnerabilities could enable entry from outside into the network boundaries;” they said, before adding that this was just a sample of the damage that could be wreaked.
A major challenge faced by the researchers involved tracking the distribution trail of Treck’s TCP/IP library. They found out that over the last 20 years it has made its way into countless devices distributed around the world. They even discovered different branches of the library due to Treck’s joint project with a Japanese company in the 1990s, with which Treck later parted ways.
According to a ripple20 expose hundreds millions devices attacks
