Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A flaw in the Vodafone H500s home WiFi router lets anyone on the network reach the router and read the WiFi password without logging in. An attacker who pulls the password can then join the wireless network and snoop on traffic from connected devices. Households and small offices using this Vodacom-supplied router are most at risk.
Executive priority
Treat as high priority for any environment running Vodafone H500s routers, especially in branch offices, retail sites, or executive home setups. Risk is leakage of WiFi credentials enabling lateral access to internal devices. Confirm vendor remediation status and contain or replace affected units.
Technical view
The H500s (Sercomm VFH500) firmware v3.5.10 exposes /data/activation.json over HTTP without authentication. A crafted GET with specific headers and cookies returns a JSON document containing the wifi_password field (CWE-497, sensitive information disclosure). CVSS 4.0 base 8.7 reflects network access, no privileges, no user interaction, and high confidentiality impact on wireless credentials.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to networks where an attacker can reach the router's HTTP interface, typically the local LAN or any segment that can route to the device's web service. Devices with WAN-side admin exposed would be broadly reachable. KEV does not list this CVE, but a public PoC is published.
Exploitation context
Public exploit material exists on Exploit-DB (50636) and cxsecurity (WLB-2022010024), and a VulnCheck advisory documents the issue. CISA KEV does not list active in-the-wild exploitation. The attack is unauthenticated, but the attacker must reach the router's HTTP service.
Researcher notes
CWE-497 disclosure via /data/activation.json on Sercomm VFH500 firmware 3.5.10. Public PoC details required headers and cookies; reproduce in a lab device only. CVSS 4.0 vector AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H aligns with unauthenticated confidentiality loss. No CPE list in the bundle and "defaultStatus":"unknown" — scope of affected firmware beyond 3.5.10 is unverified.
Mitigation direction
- Confirm with Vodacom or Vodafone whether a firmware update beyond v3.5.10 addresses this disclosure and apply if available.
- Restrict router management interfaces to the LAN and disable any WAN-side HTTP/HTTPS administration.
- Rotate the WiFi password if the device was reachable by untrusted clients or guests.
- Segment guest and IoT devices onto isolated SSIDs to limit access to the management interface.
- Consider replacing the H500s if no vendor fix is published and the device cannot be isolated.
- Monitor router logs for unexpected requests to /data/activation.json where logging is supported.
Validation and detection
- Identify deployed H500s units and record firmware versions, flagging any at v3.5.10.
- Verify whether the router's HTTP management service is reachable from the LAN, guest network, or WAN.
- Check vendor portals (Vodacom support, Sercomm) for advisories or firmware newer than v3.5.10.
- Review network access logs for unauthenticated requests to /data/activation.json.
- Confirm WiFi password rotation has been completed on affected SSIDs after remediation.
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-497: 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-2022-4985 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
- 8.7 (4.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/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.
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:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N——Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 4.0 score
8.7HighVector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/50636CVE reference · exploit
- https://cxsecurity.com/issue/WLB-2022010024CVE reference · exploit
- https://help.vodacom.co.za/personal/home/61/9493/1023659/Vodafone-H500s-WiFi-routerCVE reference · product
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/vodafone-h500s-wifi-password-disclosure-via-activation-jsonCVE reference · 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.