CVE-2026-13768 - Gardyn IoT Hub Owner Key Exposure

[!WARNING] This repository contains a fully functional proof-of-concept for a high-severity IoT vulnerability.
This code is provided strictly for educational purposes, authorized security research, and defensive testing.

Unauthorized use is illegal. Testing or exploiting systems without explicit written permission from the owner violates the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), EU Cyber Resilience Act, and other applicable laws in your jurisdiction.
The authors assume no liability for any misuse, damage, or legal consequences resulting from this code.
Always operate within legal and ethical boundaries.

Overview

CVE-2026-13768 exposes the IoT Hub owner-level connection string in the Gardyn smart garden system, allowing full administrative control over the Azure IoT Hub. This PoC demonstrates how an attacker with the owner key can achieve remote code execution (RCE) on connected devices via command injection in the upgrade() cloud-to-device method, enabling fleet-wide compromise.

The suite includes:

• validate.py: Used for Passive validation (blueteam)...
• poc.py: The 'Weaponized Exmplotation Framework' (redteam)...
• c2s.py: A lightweight C2 server for demonstration
• TEMPLATES.md: Ready-to-use lateral movement (ping sweeps, port scans) & persistence (cron, systemd, init.d, etc.) templates optimized for IoT/BusyBox environments.

This is a living research project - use it responsibly to understand and defend against supply-chain and IoT cloud misconfigurations.

Features

• Passive Validation: Safely verify owner key validity and enumerate devices without making changes
• Fleet Enumeration: List all devices registered to the IoT Hub
• Remote Code Execution: Inject commands via the upgrade() method (leveraging CVE-2025-29631 command injection)
• Lateral Movement: Example LAN scanning from a compromised device
• Persistence: Example techniques for maintaining access
• OPSEC Features: Payload obfuscation, operation logging, optional TLS bypass (lab use)
• C2 Integration: Simple command-and-control server for interactive sessions

Directory Structure

.
├── poc.py              # Main weaponized exploitation script
├── validate.py         # Safe, read-only validation tool
├── c2s.py              # Lightweight C2 server for demos
├── TEMPLATES.md        # Ready-to-Use Command Templates.
├── README.md

Dependencies

• Python 3.8+
• Azure IoT Hub SDK

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   root@kitploit:~

   git clone https://github.com/J4ck3LSyN-Gen2/CVE-2026-13768.git
   cd CVE-2026-13768
   python3 -m venv venv
   

2. Activate the virtual environment (or create one):

   root@kitploit:~

   source venv/bin/activate
   python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip
   

3. Install dependencies.

python3 -m pip install azure-iot-hub

Usage

1. Passive Validation (Strongly Recommended)

python validate.py --conn-str "HostName=yourhub.azure-devices.net;SharedAccessKeyName=iothubowner;SharedAccessKey=..."

Exit code 0 = Valid owner key with accessible devices. No modifications are made.

2. Full Exploitation (Authorized Targets Only)

python poc.py \
  --mode exploit \
  --conn-str "HostName=..." \
  --device-id "target-device-123" \
  --command "whoami" \
  --lateral-scan \
  --persist

Key Arguments

Run python poc.py --help for full options.

3. C2 Server (Demo)

python c2s.py --port 4444

How It Works (Technical Summary)

1. Key Validation → Uses Azure IoT Hub SDK to authenticate as iothubowner
2. Enumeration → Retrieves device registry and twin data
3. RCE Primitive → Abuses command injection in the upgrade() direct method
4. Post-Exploitation → Optional lateral movement + persistence payloads
5. Obfuscation → Basic string encoding (easily extensible to AES/custom)

Note: Lateral movement and persistence code are illustrative placeholders. Adapt them to your target device's OS and constraints (e.g., BusyBox-limited environments).

OPSEC & Safety Considerations

• Logging: Writes to /tmp/cve_2026_13768.log by default. Replace with encrypted exfiltration in real engagements.
• Obfuscation: Extend the provided obfuscate_cmd() / deobfuscate_cmd() functions.
• Testing: Always test in an isolated lab environment first.
• Cleanup: Have rollback plans. The exploit can leave traces on devices.

References

• CISA Advisory ICSA-26-183-03
• Related CVE-2025-29631
• Azure IoT Hub Documentation

Contributing

Contributions welcome for:

• Improved obfuscation techniques
• Additional persistence methods
• Defensive detection rules
• Better C2 integration

Please open issues or PRs.

With great power comes great responsibility.