Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Certain Medtronic Valleylab surgical energy generators can be tricked into accepting inauthentic instruments because RFID-based authentication can be bypassed. The issue requires physical access and high attack complexity, but it could affect instrument integrity in a clinical setting.
Executive priority
Treat this as a targeted medical-device integrity risk, not a broad cyber emergency. Prioritize inventory, vendor guidance review, and physical control validation for affected clinical environments.
Technical view
CVE-2019-13531 is CWE-287 improper authentication in the RFID security mechanism between Valleylab FT10/LS10 generators and instruments. CVSS 3.1 is 4.8, with physical attack vector, high complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, high integrity impact, and low availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to organizations using Medtronic Valleylab FT10 versions 2.1.0 and lower or 2.0.3 and lower, and LS10 versions 1.20.2 and lower. The LS10 is noted as not available in the United States.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not identify active exploitation, and the CVE is not marked KEV. The CVSS vector indicates physical access and high complexity, so this is not presented as a remote internet-exposed vulnerability.
Researcher notes
The key uncertainty is remediation detail: the provided bundle names vendor and CISA advisories but does not include patch specifics. Do not assume remote reachability or exploitation. Focus analysis on RFID authentication bypass risk and clinical workflow exposure.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory FT10 and LS10 generators and record exact software versions.
- Review Medtronic’s security bulletin for vendor-approved actions.
- Review CISA ICS medical advisory guidance before operational changes.
- Restrict physical access to generators, instruments, and related clinical storage areas.
- Validate instrument procurement and handling controls with clinical engineering.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether any FT10 devices run affected software versions.
- Confirm whether any LS10 devices run affected software versions.
- Verify LS10 presence separately, since the bundle says it is not available in the United States.
- Check clinical engineering records for generator model identifiers VLFT10GEN and VLLS10GEN.
- Document physical access controls around affected operating-room equipment.
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 lookupCVE-2019-13531 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 4.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L
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.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe 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:3.1/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L0.54.2Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
4.8MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://global.medtronic.com/xg-en/product-security/security-bulletins/valleylab-generator-rfid-vulnerabilities.htmlCVE reference
- https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-medical-advisories/icsma-19-311-01CVE reference
- https://www.us-cert.gov/ics/advisories/icsma-19-311-01CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC, x_transferred
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.