Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw could let an unauthenticated person reach administrative functions on affected ProSoft ICX35-HWC cellular gateways. Business risk is high because device configuration and settings may be changed without credentials if the web interface is reachable.
Executive priority
Treat this as urgent for any deployed ICX35-HWC gateway with reachable management access. The issue can bypass login and affect device configuration integrity, so prioritize inventory, exposure reduction, and vendor-confirmed remediation.
Technical view
CVE-2017-20235 is a CWE-287 authentication bypass in the ICX35-HWC web UI affecting version 1.3 and prior. The supplied CVSS 4.0 score is 9.3: network attack, low complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, with high confidentiality and integrity impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where ProSoft ICX35-HWC Cellular Gateway devices running firmware 1.3 or earlier have reachable web management interfaces on internal, remote-access, cellular, or internet-adjacent networks.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. However, the vulnerability characteristics are severe: unauthenticated network access, low complexity, and potential full administrative access to configuration and settings.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the supplied CVE description, CVSS vector, affected version range, vendor advisory link, and VulnCheck advisory link. Do not assume exploit availability, patch details, or additional affected products beyond those sources.
Mitigation direction
- Check the Belden/ProSoft advisory for supported remediation and firmware guidance.
- Identify ICX35-HWC devices and confirm firmware versions.
- Restrict web UI access to trusted management networks only.
- Remove direct internet exposure for affected management interfaces.
- Review device configuration for unauthorized changes.
- Prioritize replacement or upgrade if vendor support is unavailable.
Validation and detection
- Inventory ProSoft ICX35-HWC gateways across network and asset systems.
- Verify whether firmware is version 1.3 or earlier.
- Confirm web UI reachability from untrusted network segments.
- Review firewall, VPN, and cellular access paths to management interfaces.
- Check administrative settings for unexpected accounts or configuration changes.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-287: Credential and account abuse lookup
Authentication and credential weaknesses can make valid-account abuse and credential telemetry useful review starting points. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCredential and access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2017-20235 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.3 (4.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
2 official scoresWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N——VulnCheckCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N3.95.2VulnCheckVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 4.0 score
9.3CriticalVector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Base CVSS 3.1 score
9.1CriticalVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://assets.belden.com/m/1281cac2c9e90abf/original/Security-Bulletin-Authentication-Security-ProSoft-ICX35-BSECV-2017-09.pdfCVE reference, VulnCheck · vendor-advisory
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/prosoft-technology-icx35-hwc-authentication-bypassCVE reference, VulnCheck · third-party-advisory
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Authentication
Improper Authentication represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.