HOMEVULNERABILITIESCVE-2015-7268
MEDIUM

CVE-2015-7268

CWE-254Published: November 27, 2017· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

4.2
CVSS v3.1

Official Description

Samsung 850 Pro and PM851 solid-state drives and Seagate ST500LT015 and ST500LT025 hard disk drives, when used on Windows and operating in Opal mode on Lenovo ThinkPad T440s laptops with BIOS 2.32 or ThinkPad W541 laptops with BIOS 2.21, or in Opal or eDrive mode on Dell Latitude E6410 laptops with BIOS A16 or Latitude E6430 laptops with BIOS A16, allow physically proximate attackers to bypass self-encrypting drive (SED) protection by triggering a soft reset and booting from an alternative OS, aka a "Forced Restart Attack."

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2015-7268 requires local access, meaning attackers must already have a foothold on the target system.

The vulnerability requires no privileges and no user interaction, making it a prime target for automated exploitation campaigns and worm-like propagation.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), with a CVSS base score of 4.2.

CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown

Exploitability
Attack VectorPhysical
Attack ComplexityHigh
Privileges Req.None
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
Impact
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityNone
AvailabilityNone
CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Affected Vendors & Products

Samsung4 product(s)
850 pro firmware850 propm851 firmwarepm851
seagate4 product(s)
st500lt015 firmwarest500lt015st500lt025 firmwarest500lt025
Source: NVD CPE · 8 total CPE entries

Exploit & PoC Resources

NO KNOWN EXPLOITNo public exploit confirmed at this time
Exploit-DB
Offensive Security exploit database
GitHub PoC Search
Community PoC repositories
Rapid7 / Metasploit
Metasploit module search
PacketStorm
Security advisories & exploits
NVD Detail
Official NIST entry
MITRE CVE
CVE Program entry
External links open in a new tab. Always verify in a controlled environment before use.

Official Patches & Advisories

ADVISORYhttps://www.blackhat.com/docs/eu-15/materials/eu-15-Boteanu-Bypassing-Self-Encrypting-Drives-SED-In-Enterprise-Environments-wp.pdf
ADVISORYhttps://www.infoworld.com/article/3004913/encryption/self-encrypting-drives-are-hardly-any-better-than-software-based-encryption.html
ADVISORYhttps://www.blackhat.com/docs/eu-15/materials/eu-15-Boteanu-Bypassing-Self-Encrypting-Drives-SED-In-Enterprise-Environments-wp.pdf
ADVISORYhttps://www.infoworld.com/article/3004913/encryption/self-encrypting-drives-are-hardly-any-better-than-software-based-encryption.html

All References (4)

→
https://www.blackhat.com/docs/eu-15/materials/eu-15-Boteanu-Bypassing-Self-Encrypting-Drives-SED-In-Enterprise-Environments-wp.pdfTechnical Description · Third Party Advisory
→
https://www.infoworld.com/article/3004913/encryption/self-encrypting-drives-are-hardly-any-better-than-software-based-encryption.htmlTechnical Description · Third Party Advisory
→
https://www.blackhat.com/docs/eu-15/materials/eu-15-Boteanu-Bypassing-Self-Encrypting-Drives-SED-In-Enterprise-Environments-wp.pdfTechnical Description · Third Party Advisory
→
https://www.infoworld.com/article/3004913/encryption/self-encrypting-drives-are-hardly-any-better-than-software-based-encryption.htmlTechnical Description · Third Party Advisory

Quick Facts

CVE IDCVE-2015-7268
CVSS Score4.2 / 10
SeverityMEDIUM
WeaknessCWE-254
CISA KEVNo
Affected2 vendor(s)
PublishedNov 27, 2017

Related CVEs (CWE-254)

CVE-2015-1158
10.0
CVE-2016-5788
10.0
CVE-2015-3972
10.0
CVE-2016-4215
9.8
CVE-2015-7554
9.8
CVE-2016-1896
9.8

Recommended Actions

  • →Apply vendor patches immediately
  • →Monitor CVE-2015-7268 in threat intel feeds
  • →Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts
Data sourced from NVD (NIST), CISA KEV, and EPSS (FIRST). Analysis generated by CTIWATCH.COM. CVE data is provided under the NVD usage policy.
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