HP switches shipped with malware

HP has issued a warning to customers after it shipped a string of ProCurve 5400 zl switches with malware-infected compact flash cards.

The infected cards did not pose problems for the switch itself.

HP issued a security advisory that the malware was only a risk if the storage card was removed from the switch and reused in a different device, such as a personal computer.

According to HP, the flash card is the "primary non-volatile storage medium located on the [switch's] management module that contains both the boot software and configuration files".

It is removable, for example, in the event that the card fails.

The gaffe, first reported by The Register, affected HP ProCurve 5400 zl switches that were purchased after April 30 last year.

Users can purge the malware by running a script used on the HP switch manager which the company said will not disrupt operations of the switch. Alternatively the management module can be replaced.

A list of vulnerable models was available on the advisory.

In 2008, AusCERT warned that low-risk malware was shipped on USB drives by HP Australia for its ProLiant servers.