CVE-2025-69203
📋 TL;DR
Signal K Server versions before 2.19.0 have vulnerabilities that allow attackers to craft convincing social engineering attacks against administrators. By combining misleading access request descriptions, IP address spoofing via X-Forwarded-For header, and device enumeration, attackers can impersonate trusted devices to request elevated permissions. This affects boat owners and operators using Signal K Server for marine data management.
💻 Affected Systems
- Signal K Server
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers gain administrative access to the Signal K Server, potentially compromising all marine systems data, navigation controls, and sensitive vessel information.
Likely Case
Attackers obtain elevated permissions through social engineering, allowing unauthorized access to marine data streams and system configurations.
If Mitigated
With proper validation and monitoring, unauthorized access attempts are detected and blocked before approval.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires social engineering element and multiple vulnerability combinations, but attack chain is well-documented in advisory.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 2.19.0
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/SignalK/signalk-server/security/advisories/GHSA-vfrf-vcj7-wvr8
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Backup current configuration. 2. Stop Signal K Server. 3. Update to version 2.19.0 via package manager or manual installation. 4. Restart Signal K Server. 5. Verify version and functionality.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Access Request System
allTemporarily disable the vulnerable access request feature until patching is possible.
Edit Signal K Server configuration to disable access request system or restrict to localhost only
Network Segmentation
allRestrict Signal K Server access to trusted internal networks only.
Configure firewall rules to limit Signal K Server port access to authorized IP addresses
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation to isolate Signal K Server from untrusted networks
- Enable detailed logging of all access requests and implement alerting for suspicious patterns
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Signal K Server version and compare to vulnerable range (<2.19.0)Check Version:
Check Signal K Server web interface or logs for version information, or run appropriate package manager commandVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 2.19.0 or higher and test access request functionality📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Access requests with mismatched permissions/descriptions
- X-Forwarded-For header values from unexpected sources
- Multiple access requests from same device with varying permissions
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests with manipulated X-Forwarded-For headers
- Access request traffic from unexpected network segments
SIEM Query:
signal_k_server AND (access_request OR X-Forwarded-For) AND (permissions:admin OR description:readonly)