Hikvision Backdoor Confirmed

The US Department of Homeland Security's Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) has issued an advisory for vulnerabilities to Hikvision cameras, crediting and confirming the work of researcher Montecrypto who originally disclosed the backdoor in Hikvision cameras.

Backdoor Disclosure

On March 5, 2017, Montecrypto declared:

I would like to confirm that there is a backdoor in many popular Hikvision products that makes it possible to gain full admin access to the device.

Confirming one week later that:

One can remotely escalate their privileges from anonymous web surfer to admin.

DHS Advisory On Hikvision

The US Department of Homeland Security gave the Hikvision cameras its worst / highest score - a 10.0 out of 10.0 - confirming that it is "remotely exploitable/low skill level to exploit" for "improper authentication." Moreover, DHS additionally confirmed a "password in configuration file", scoring it a critical 8.8 out of 10.0.

Hikvision Response

On March 12, Hikvision sent a notice of a 'privilege escalating vulnerability' and issued firmware upgrades for 200+ Hikvision IP cameras addressing the vulnerabilities. IPVM estimates easily millions of cameras have these vulnerabilities given Hikvision's own regular declarations of shipping tens of millions of cameras.

On May 4, Hikvision sent an update on that notice declaring [link no longer available]:

Hikvision is honored to work with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center in our ongoing cybersecurity best practice efforts.

Grey Market No Solution

No solution is available for those who have bought 'grey market' Hikvision cameras as, depending on the variant, upgrading firmware could revert the device, be blocked or brick the camera.

No Fix Yet For Password In Config File

The DHS advisory also notes:

Hikvision has not mitigated the password in configuration file vulnerability.

It is not clear if or when Hikvision will fix this.

No Proof Of Concept Released But Verified

While the US DHS has verified these vulnerabilities, no proof of concept code has been released for them. The lack of one should reduce the amount of exploits.

Hikvision users should certainly take this seriously and upgrade all devices. In describing this exploit to IPVM when it was first discovered, montecrypto stated:

If you can access login screen, you can log in as an admin or event recover admin's password without knowing it.

"No Backdoors" Claim

In early 2017, Hivision declared that:

Hikvision never has, does or would intentionally contribute to the placement of “backdoors” in its products.

The company will likely argue that this backdoor is not intentional though this depends on trusting them since verifying intent is difficult.

Hikvision Previous Hardening Efforts

Since 2015, Hikvision has made multiple statements about its commitment to cyber security, in response to previous incidents [link no longer available], in a special Security Center [link no longer available] Website section, and establishing a Network and Information Security Lab and engaging security audit firm Rapid7. Despite these stated efforts to improve cybersecurity, these vulnerabilities lasted into 2017 and the report of the independent researcher montecrypto.

Track Record of Hikvision Cybersecurity Problems

Hikvision has a long history of cybersecurity vulnerabilities affecting their products:

• Hikvision IP Cameras Multiple Vulnerabilities (08/13)
• Hackers Turn Security Camera DVRs Into Worst Bitcoin Miners Ever (04/14)
• Multiple Vulnerabilities Found in Hikvision DVR Devices (11/14)
• Hikvision Chinese Government User Hacked (03/15)
• Hikvision iVMS-4500 Mobile App Malware (09/15)
• Hikvision Rejects Responsibility for Hacked Hikvision Cameras (05/16)
• Hikvision Cloud Security Vulnerability Uncovered (12/16)
• Hikvision Discontinuing Online Service (12/16)
• Hikvision Defaulted Devices Getting Hacked (02/17)
• Current / Now Hikvision Privilege-Escalating Security Vulnerability (03/17)

In the 2016 Cyber Security For Video Surveillance Study, integrators gave Hikvision the worst cyber security rating among manufacturers. While Dahua's own backdoor will give Hikvision competition, Hikvision's new vulnerabilities here will increase their own challenges.