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Ukraine CERT says attackers are compromising Dahua cameras
CERT-UA said it found cases in which hackers accessed Dahua internet cameras and recorders via the Easy4IP cloud feature, changed settings and created unauthorized accounts, The Record reported.
Ukraine's computer emergency response team said late last week that it had identified cases in which attackers compromised internet-connected cameras and video recorders made by Chinese manufacturer Dahua, changed settings and created unauthorized user accounts, The Record reported Monday1.
CERT-UA did not say how many devices were affected, when the incidents occurred or who was responsible1. The Record said Chinese-made surveillance gear remains widely used in Ukraine, including by government institutions and military units1.
According to the agency, attackers appear to be using Easy4IP, a feature that lets users reach Dahua cameras through the manufacturer's cloud using device serial numbers, including systems behind firewalls1. CERT-UA said those serial numbers follow predictable patterns, so cameras with the remote-access feature on can be identified even if the numbers were never published1.
Once a device is found, the agency said, attackers can try weak or default passwords or old firmware bugs that skip authentication1. It specifically warned about two critical flaws disclosed in 2021, CVE-2021-33044 and CVE-2021-33045, that affect some Dahua cameras and recorders1.
Hunt.io reported in August that more than 14,500 Dahua devices had been compromised earlier in the summer, with confirmed infections concentrated in Ukraine and Russia, The Record said1. It remains unclear whether those cases are linked to the incidents CERT-UA described1.
Dahua is among China's largest video-surveillance makers1. The Record noted U.S. limits on federal purchases of some Dahua equipment in 2018 and a later U.S. trade blacklist tied to alleged involvement in surveillance of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang1.
The warning lands amid Ukrainian concern that cameras could be used to watch military movements and infrastructure1. The Record cited a Wall Street Journal report this month that Ukraine's SBU said it had identified and secured about 40,000 cameras since 2022, and a January 2024 SBU claim that Russian services had hacked two Kyiv building cameras to watch air defenses1. A 2024 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty investigation put about 24,000 Dahua and Hikvision cameras in municipal systems, The Record said1.
Ukrainian procurement records show government and military buyers still purchased Dahua equipment in 2026, according to The Record1. It is unknown whether any devices in CERT-UA's latest warning belong to those institutions1.
