Nexx bugs allow to open garage doors, and take control of alarms and plugs

A series of vulnerabilities in multiple smart devices manufactured by Nexx can be exploited to remotely open garage doors, and take control of alarms and plugs.

In late 2022, the researcher Sam Sabetan discovered a series of critical vulnerabilities in several smart devices manufactured by Nexx, including Smart Garage Door Openers, Alarms, and Plugs. A remote attacker can exploit these vulnerabilities to open and close garage doors, take control of alarms, and switch smart plugs on and off for any customer.

The expert attempted to report the flaws to Nexx, but the company has never replied to the reports.

“Nexx has not replied to any correspondence from myself, DHS (CISA and US-CERT) or VICE Media Group.” reads a post published by Sabetan. “I have independently verified Nexx has purposefully ignored all our attempts to assist with remediation and has let these critical flaws continue to affect their customers.”

The researchers reported the issues to the United States Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which assigned the following five CVEs:

Use of Hard-coded Credentials CWE-798 (CVE-2023–1748, CVSS3.0: 8.6)
Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key CWE-639 (CVE-2023–1749, CVSS3.0: 6.5)
Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key CWE-639 (CVE-2023–1750, CVSS3.0: 7.1)
Improper Input Validation CWE-20 (CVE-2023–1751, CVSS3.0: 7.5)
Improper Authentication Validation CWE-287 (CVE-2023–1752, CVSS3.0: 8.1)

The expert estimated that over 40,000 devices, located in both residential and commercial properties, are affected by the above issues. He also determined that more than 20,000 individuals have active Nexx accounts.

To mitigate the risk of the exploitation of the above flaws, it is recommended to disable internet connectivity for vulnerable Nexx devices or protect them with a firewall.

Below is a video demo published by the researcher that shows how to exploit the flaw CVE-2023–1748 to obtain users’ info.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Nexx)

Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.