Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This issue affects certain Medtronic Valleylab surgical energy products that store OS passwords with an old, reversible or weak one-way hashing approach. It is not described as remotely reachable by itself, but it matters if an attacker gains local shell access through related vulnerabilities.
Executive priority
Prioritize as a healthcare device risk where affected products are deployed. It is not a standalone internet-facing issue, but it can worsen compromise after local shell access and may affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability of clinical equipment.
Technical view
CVE-2019-13539 is CWE-328 in Valleylab Exchange Client 3.4 and below, FT10 software 4.0.0 and below, and FX8 software 1.1.0 and below. The products use descrypt for OS password hashing. CVSS 3.1 is 7.0 with local access, high complexity, and low privileges required.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in healthcare environments using the named Medtronic Valleylab Exchange Client, FT10, or FX8 versions. The source says network-based interactive logons are disabled, so exposure depends on local shell access, including via other vulnerabilities in the same advisory.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not indicate active exploitation, and the CVE is not in CISA KEV. Exploitation is described as chained: attackers first need local shell access, then can access password hashes protected by descrypt.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports weak OS password hashing, not direct remote compromise. The key research question is whether other vulnerabilities in the same advisory can reliably provide local shell access on deployed versions. Avoid testing on clinical devices without approved maintenance windows and vendor guidance.
Mitigation direction
- Identify Valleylab Exchange Client, FT10, and FX8 assets and software versions.
- Review Medtronic and CISA guidance for updates or compensating controls.
- Remediate related vulnerabilities that could provide local shell access.
- Restrict physical, service, and administrative access to affected devices.
- Coordinate changes with clinical engineering and vendor support before device modification.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether deployed versions match the affected ranges in the advisory.
- Verify interactive network-based logons remain disabled on affected systems.
- Review access controls for local shell, service, and maintenance workflows.
- Check CISA and Medtronic advisories for current remediation guidance.
- Look for unauthorized local access indicators in maintenance and system logs.
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-328: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. 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-2019-13539 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
- High
- CVSS
- 7 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H15.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-medical-advisories/icsma-19-311-02CVE reference
- https://global.medtronic.com/xg-en/product-security/security-bulletins/valleylab-generator-rfid-vulnerabilities.htmlCVE reference
- https://www.us-cert.gov/ics/advisories/icsma-19-311-02CVE 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.
Use of Weak Hash
Use of Weak Hash represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.