Medtronic Conexus Radio Frequency Telemetry Protocol Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information (CVE-2019-6540)
Published Sources: CVE.org
What is affected, what to do
The Conexus telemetry protocol utilized within Medtronic MyCareLink Monitor versions 24950 and 24952, CareLink Monitor version 2490C, CareLink 2090 Programmer, Amplia CRT-D, Claria CRT-D, Compia CRT-D, Concerto CRT-D, Concerto II CRT-D, Consulta CRT-D, Evera ICD, Maximo II CRT-D and ICD, Mirro ICD, Nayamed ND ICD, Primo ICD, Protecta ICD and CRT-D, Secura ICD, Virtuoso ICD, Virtuoso II ICD, Visia AF ICD, and Viva CRT-D does not implement encryption. An attacker with adjacent short-range access to a target product can listen to communications, including the transmission of sensitive data.
The available sources name no fixed version. Check the vendor guidance in the references below.
- Affected
- Medtronic Conexus Radio Frequency Telemetry Protocol
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic MyCareLink Monitor
eq 24950..24950 - Medtronic MyCareLink Monitor
eq 24952..24952 - Medtronic CareLink Monitor
eq 2490C..2490C - Medtronic CareLink 2090 Programmer
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Amplia CRT-D
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Claria CRT-D
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Compia CRT-D
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Concerto CRT-D
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Concerto II CRT-D
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Consulta CRT-D
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Evera ICD
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Maximo II CRT-D
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Maximo II ICD
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Mirro ICD
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Nayamed ND ICD
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Primo ICD
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Protecta ICD, Protecta CRT-D
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Secura ICD
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Virtuoso ICD
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Virtuoso II ICD
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Visia AF ICD
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Viva CRT-D
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Brava CRT-D
eq All versions..All versions - Medtronic Mirro MRI ICD
eq All versions..All versions
- Medtronic Conexus Radio Frequency Telemetry Protocol
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Metrics
6.5
Priority
XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.
Source: NVD, CVSS v3
6.5
CVSS v3
Severity Medium on the scale from 0 to 10.
Source: CVE.org
0.2 %
EPSS score
Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 9.3
Show all metrics
- Severity
- Medium
Priority (0–325)
The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?
Read in glossary- 33.19 Methodology
Exploit maturity
An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.
Read in glossary- no public PoC known
XIEM Effective CVSS
XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.
Read in glossary- 6.5 Methodology
CVSS v3
CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.
Read in glossary- 6.5
EPSS score
The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.
Read in glossary- 0.2 %
- Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
EPSS percentile
The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.
Read in glossary- 9.3
- Low — this CVE sits in the lower 10% of all CVEs scored today.
KEV status
The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.
Read in glossary- —
- Published
CWE
CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.
Read in glossary- CWE-319
Detection rules
No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.
Classification under NIS2 and CRA
Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.
NIS2
NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.
Read in glossary- Handle the vulnerability in regular vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2.
CRA
The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.
Read in glossary- From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
ISO/IEC 27001
ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.
Read in glossary- Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.
Description
The Conexus telemetry protocol utilized within Medtronic MyCareLink Monitor versions 24950 and 24952, CareLink Monitor version 2490C, CareLink 2090 Programmer, Amplia CRT-D, Claria CRT-D, Compia CRT-D, Concerto CRT-D, Concerto II CRT-D, Consulta CRT-D, Evera ICD, Maximo II CRT-D and ICD, Mirro ICD, Nayamed ND ICD, Primo ICD, Protecta ICD and CRT-D, Secura ICD, Virtuoso ICD, Virtuoso II ICD, Visia AF ICD, and Viva CRT-D does not implement encryption. An attacker with adjacent short-range access to a target product can listen to communications, including the transmission of sensitive data.
Source: cvelistv5, NVD (NIST)
Affected products
The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.
| Affected versions | Fixed in | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Medtronic | Amplia CRT-D |
|
|
| Medtronic | Brava CRT-D |
|
|
| Medtronic | CareLink 2090 Programmer |
|
|
| Medtronic | CareLink Monitor |
|
|
| Medtronic | Claria CRT-D |
|
|
| Medtronic | Compia CRT-D |
|
|
| Medtronic | Concerto CRT-D |
|
|
| Medtronic | Concerto II CRT-D |
|
|
| Medtronic | Conexus Radio Frequency Telemetry Protocol |
|
|
| Medtronic | Consulta CRT-D |
|
|
| Medtronic | Evera ICD |
|
|
| Medtronic | Maximo II CRT-D |
|
|
| Medtronic | Maximo II ICD |
|
|
| Medtronic | Mirro ICD |
|
|
| Medtronic | Mirro MRI ICD |
|
|
| Medtronic | MyCareLink Monitor |
|
|
| Medtronic | Nayamed ND ICD |
|
|
| Medtronic | Primo ICD |
|
|
| Medtronic | Protecta ICD, Protecta CRT-D |
|
|
| Medtronic | Secura ICD |
|
|
| Medtronic | Virtuoso ICD |
|
|
| Medtronic | Virtuoso II ICD |
|
|
| Medtronic | Visia AF ICD |
|
|
| Medtronic | Viva CRT-D |
|
|
Vendors and products
Affected operating systems
| Other | medtronic | amplia_crt-d_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | carelink_2090_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | carelink_monitor_2490c_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | claria_crt-d_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | compia_crt-d_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | concerto_crt-d_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | concerto_ii_crt-d_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | consulta_crt-d_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | evera_icd_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | maximo_ii_crt-d_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | maximo_ii_icd_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | mirro_icd_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | mycarelink_monitor_24950_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | mycarelink_monitor_24952_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | nayamed_nd_icd_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | primo_icd_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | protecta_crt-d_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | protecta_icd_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | secura_icd_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | virtuoso_icd_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | virtuoso_ii_icd_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | visia_af_icd_firmware | — |
| Other | medtronic | viva_crt-d_firmware | — |
Weakness classes (CWE)
CWE-319Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information
Base
The product transmits sensitive or security-critical data in cleartext in a communication channel that can be sniffed by unauthorized actors.
Entry at MITRE CWE-319
References & sources
- ics-cert.us-cert.govadvisories/ICSMA-19-080-01x_refsource_MISC
- securityfocus.com107544Vulnerability database, x_refsource_BID
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<a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2019-6540"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2019-6540.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2019-6540 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>