Recent findings from the cybersecurity agency CISA have revealed significant vulnerabilities in Gardyn’s smart indoor hydroponic gardens, which could have been exploited for remote hacking. These devices, designed for effortless indoor cultivation of vegetables and herbs, leverage automated systems and AI-driven technology to facilitate year-round growth.
Key Vulnerabilities Identified
The investigation by CISA highlighted two critical and two high-severity vulnerabilities within Gardyn products. A notable critical flaw, identified as CVE-2025-29631, involves a command injection issue that allows execution of arbitrary OS commands on compromised devices. Additionally, the flaw CVE-2025-1242 involves hardcoded admin credentials, enabling complete control over the Gardyn IoT Hub.
Furthermore, two high-severity vulnerabilities, CVE-2025-29628 and CVE-2025-29629, relate to the transmission of sensitive information in cleartext by the Azure IoT Hub, making the system susceptible to Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks, and the use of default credentials, respectively.
Security Measures and Patch Implementation
In response to these findings, Gardyn has issued a security advisory confirming the release of patches for their Home and Studio products. These updates include mobile app enhancements and firmware revisions, which have been automatically applied when users’ devices are connected to the internet. Gardyn assures that no sensitive data, such as payment or login information, was exposed during this time.
Cybersecurity researcher Michael Groberman, credited with reporting these vulnerabilities, noted that around 138,000 devices were potentially affected. He emphasized the potential for remote exploitation of these vulnerabilities without user authentication, highlighting the risks posed to the Gardyn API and Azure IoT Hub infrastructure.
Expert Analysis and Future Outlook
Groberman, building on prior research by Kristof Mattei, outlined a theoretical attack scenario where an attacker could retrieve hardcoded administrative credentials from the mobile app or firmware. Such access would enable full administrative control over the IoT Hub, affecting connected devices and executing commands through the command injection vulnerability.
Gardyn confirmed in their advisory that exploiting these vulnerabilities could have allowed attackers to manipulate device functions like lighting and watering schedules, as well as access limited personal data. Going forward, these security measures are crucial in preventing unauthorized access and ensuring user safety.
As the cybersecurity landscape evolves, continued vigilance and timely updates will be essential in safeguarding smart devices from similar threats.
