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PatchSiren cyber security CVE debrief

CVE-2024-48971 Baxter CVE debrief

A critical vulnerability in the Baxter Life2000 Ventilation System exposes hard-coded clinician credentials in plaintext, enabling unauthorized privileged access if an attacker obtains physical access to the device. Published November 14, 2024, this vulnerability carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.3 (CRITICAL) and affects Life2000 Ventilation System versions 6.08.00.00 and earlier. The root cause is the presence of hard-coded Clinician Password and Serial Number Clinician Password stored in plaintext within the ventilator firmware. An attacker with local access can extract these credentials to gain clinician-level privileges, potentially compromising patient safety and device integrity. Baxter has not released a patch as of the advisory date; remediation relies on physical security controls until a follow-up announcement expected in Q2 2025. No exploitation has been reported.

Vendor
Baxter
Product
Life2000 Ventilation System
CVSS
CRITICAL 9.3
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2024-11-14
Original CVE updated
2024-11-14
Advisory published
2024-11-14
Advisory updated
2024-11-14

Who should care

Healthcare delivery organizations, biomedical engineering departments, respiratory therapy services, clinical engineering teams, hospital security operations, medical device manufacturers, healthcare CISOs, and regulatory compliance officers responsible for medical device cybersecurity and patient safety.

Technical summary

The Baxter Life2000 Ventilation System contains hard-coded Clinician Password and Serial Number Clinician Password stored in plaintext within device firmware. These credentials are embedded directly in the ventilator and can be extracted by an attacker with local physical access. Successful credential extraction enables unauthorized authentication with clinician privileges, granting complete control over ventilation parameters and device operation. The vulnerability requires local access (AV:L) but needs no privileges or user interaction (PR:N/UI:N). The changed scope (S:C) indicates impact beyond the vulnerable component to patient care systems. Complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H) reflects the critical safety implications for life-supporting medical equipment.

Defensive priority

CRITICAL

Recommended defensive actions

  • Restrict physical access to Life2000 Ventilation Systems; do not leave devices unattended in public or unsecured areas per vendor guidance
  • Maintain continuous physical possession and control of ventilators to prevent unauthorized local access
  • Monitor for Baxter's Q2 2025 follow-up announcement regarding patch availability
  • Review and implement CISA ICS recommended practices for medical device security
  • Assess network segmentation for connected ventilators to limit lateral movement if credentials are compromised
  • Inventory all deployed Life2000 units and verify firmware versions ≤06.08.00.00 are subject to this advisory
  • Train clinical and biomedical engineering staff on physical security protocols for portable ventilators

Evidence notes

CISA ICS Medical Advisory ICSMA-24-319-01 confirms hard-coded plaintext credentials in Life2000 Ventilation System ≤06.08.00.00. CVSS 3.1 vector AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H reflects local attack vector with changed scope and complete confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. Baxter's remediation guidance emphasizes physical security pending future patch release.

Sources and references

Verified primary and authoritative sources

  • CVE-2024-48971 CVE Program record

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-48971

    CVE Program - Official CVE Program record with source-provided CVE metadata.

  • CVE-2024-48971 NVD vulnerability detail

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-48971

    NIST National Vulnerability Database - Official NIST NVD detail page and source-specific vulnerability assessment.

Supplemental references

  • Source item URL

    Unverified legacy reference

    URL: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cisagov/CSAF/develop/csaf_files/OT/white/2024/icsma-24-319-01.json

    cisa_csaf

  • Source reference

    Unverified legacy reference

    URL: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-medical-advisories/icsma-24-319-01

    Reference

  • Source reference

    Unverified legacy reference

    URL: https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/resources/ics-recommended-practices

    Reference

  • Source reference

    Unverified legacy reference

    URL: https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/Cybersecurity_Best_Practices_for_Industrial_Control_Systems.pdf

    Reference

  • Source reference

    Unverified legacy reference

    URL: https://www.cisa.gov/topics/industrial-control-systems

    Reference

  • Source reference

    Unverified legacy reference

    URL: https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ics/alerts/ICS-ALERT-10-301-01

    Reference

  • Source reference

    Unverified legacy reference

    URL: https://us-cert.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/recommended_practices/NCCIC_ICS-CERT_Defense_in_Depth_2016_S508C.pdf

    Reference

  • Source reference

    Unverified legacy reference

    URL: https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ics/tips/ICS-TIP-12-146-01B

    Reference

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.