Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw affects Medtronic MyCareLink Smart Model 25000 Patient Readers. A software update race condition could allow unsigned firmware to run on the reader, potentially giving an attacker control of the device. The score is high, but the provided CVSS indicates adjacent-network access and user interaction are required.
Executive priority
Treat as a high-priority medical device risk where affected readers are deployed. Prioritize inventory and vendor patch confirmation, especially in patient-care environments, while noting the bundle provides no active exploitation evidence.
Technical view
CVE-2020-27252 is a CWE-367 time-of-check/time-of-use race condition in the MCL Smart Patient Reader update system. The provided record says all Smart Model 25000 Patient Reader versions are affected and that exploitation could permit unsigned firmware upload and execution, enabling code execution on the reader.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to environments using Medtronic MyCareLink Smart Model 25000 Patient Reader devices. The bundle lists all versions as affected. CVSS indicates adjacent attack vector, no privileges required, and required user interaction.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. Impact is serious because successful exploitation could lead to device control, but the available scoring indicates adjacency and user interaction constraints.
Researcher notes
Key constraints are CVSS AV:A and UI:R. The flaw is in update validation timing, allowing unsigned firmware execution if exploited. The public bundle does not provide exploit details, proof-of-concept status, or independent exploitation reports.
Mitigation direction
- Review and follow Medtronic's security bulletin for patch guidance.
- Use CISA ICS Medical Advisory ICSMA-20-345-01 for vendor-recommended handling.
- Inventory MyCareLink Smart Model 25000 Patient Readers in your environment.
- Prioritize affected devices used in clinical or patient-care workflows.
- If patch status is unclear, contact Medtronic support before operational changes.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether Smart Model 25000 Patient Readers are deployed.
- Check each device version and update status against Medtronic guidance.
- Verify whether affected readers are reachable from adjacent networks.
- Review update history for unexpected or failed firmware update activity.
- Document remediation status for clinical engineering and security teams.
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-367: 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 lookupCVE-2020-27252 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
- 8.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/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:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H2.16Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
8.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://global.medtronic.com/xg-en/product-security/security-bulletins/mycarelink-smart-security-vulnerability-patch.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-medical-advisories/icsma-20-345-01CVE reference
- https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ics/advisories/icsma-20-345-01CVE 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.
Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition
Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.