Medtronic 9790, 2090 CareLink, and 29901 Encore Programmers

Risk Summary

As part of the intended functionality of this device, it may store protected health information (PHI) or personally identifiable information (PII). Successful exploitation of the vulnerability may allow an attacker with physical access to an affected programmer to access PHI or PII stored on the device.

CVEs (1)

Remediations

• The CareLink 9790 Programmer has been placed into end-of-life status and is no longer supported by Medtronic. Medtronic recommends users no longer use the 9790 for any purpose.
• The CareLink 2090 and 29901 Encore programmers store PHI and PII as part of their normal operating procedure. Medtronic recommends that when devices are storing PHI/PII it should be retained on these programmers for the least amount of time necessary, and should be handled, managed and secured in a manner consistent with the applicable laws for patient data privacy. Please contact a Medtronic representative for proper disposal and PHI/PII retention setting instructions.
• All affected programmers allow for the manual deletion of programmer-generated reports, which could contain PHI/PII. Medtronic recommends users delete these reports when no longer needed and prior to any disposition of the programmer.
• Medtronic recommends users take additional defensive measures to minimize the risk of exploitation. Specifically, hospitals and clinicians should:
• Proper disposal of these programmers and the associated electronic media storing data is critical for the continued protection of any PHI and PII residing on the programmer.
• Medtronic has released a security bulletin related to this advisory that is available, with contact information, at the following location:
• https://www.medtronic.com/security

Affected Vendors

Affected Products (3)

Affected Sectors

Healthcare and Public Health