Philips warns clinicians of remote-access vulnerabilities in its imaging software

Dutch technology vendor Philips has issued a security advisory to warn clinics that motivated hackers could get ahold of sensitive patient data by exploiting recently discovered vulnerabilities in its IntelliSpace Portal imaging software.

As part of its Responsible Disclosure Policy, the company alerts clinicians that it has discovered issues with Versions 8.0.x and 7.0.x of the Philips IntelliSpace Portal imaging visualization and analysis system.

The product is “subject to potential security issues including insecure Windows service permissions, legacy encryption vulnerabilities, and a remote desktop access vulnerability,” the advisory states.

Quick analysis led Philips engineers to conclude that a motivated attacker could leverage the flaws to access or modify sensitive information on the system, and steal authentication credentials.

The company says it is providing workarounds to users of the solution. However, the advisory only recommends users “contact their local Philips service support team or their regional service support.”

Judging by the wording of the advisory, it would appear that the flaw isn”t easily exploitable. However, users should take a cautious stance whenever someone says their systems are prone to unauthorized remote access – no matter how hard it is to obtain that access.

To its credit, Philips promises to include a patch in the next planned release of IntelliSpace Portal. Again, the wording suggests development of the fix isn”t exactly top priority for the technology giant.