Migration of IP Cameras to another NVR

[frogmist]

Hi everyone! I'm a noob at this and my questions are pretty basic. I've done a lot of googling and I still cannot work it out hence reaching out to all of you experts for help.

What happens is that I recently joined a volunteer organization and they have an existing HIKVision CCTV system, with IP cameras, a HIKVision PoE switch and a HIKVision NVR. The system is working but the NVR looks pretty beat up. The plan is to migrate it to a different NVR machine (brand watashi). However the folks who have initially set up the system are no longer with the org, non contactable and nobody knows the passwords to the cameras, PoE switch and NVR!

I have reached out to HIKVision tech support for help to reset the passwords...somehow the reset codes they gave are not working (still following up with them). But I think it's a real threat that we may never get to change the passwords.

My questions that need your help:
1. Without the passwords, am I able to still connect the new NVR to the cameras? I have their network information (IP addresses, ports etc).
2. Can I just replace the HIKVision PoE switch with a D-Link PoE switch and it will work (switches are quite plug-and-play in general)? Or we will need to do some configuration on the NVR to talk to the PoE switch? I read somewhere about the binding of PoE switch...and I got lost. Not sure what that is about!

As this is a non-profit org, cash is scarce hence we are trying to reuse whatever we can... specifically the cameras. Appreciate any help you can give. Thanks a million!

 

[tigerwillow1]

If this was Dahua equipment you'd need to know the passwords to connect. I'm assuming the same for Hikvision. (Opinion) For any of these devices, if you can't find the password or do a factory reset that also resets the password, it's only a matter of time before the devices all turn into unusable bricks. Perhaps if you post model numbers, somebody with Hikvision-specific knowledge can advise if the passwords can be reset to default.

 

[bp2008]

There are a number of camera vulnerabilities and password reset tools that may be able to help you, if the cameras are old enough.

Most likely the cameras all have the same password, so if any of the cameras are running firmware from 2014-2016, there's a good chance it has a vulnerability that can be exploited to download the configuration and decode the admin credentials. That would be ideal because then you'd know the login credentials and you could use them to regain access to cameras that you aren't able to reset any other way.

Here's a tool someone made to help discover the credentials: GitHub - WormChickenWizard/hikvision-decrypter: A simple cross platform program written in C++ used for decrypting the configuration files created by Hikvision Security Cameras. Successor to my hikvision-xor-decrypter

Here is a tool I wrote a long time ago that uses the same vulnerability to reset the password (but it can't tell you what the previous password was): GitHub - bp2008/HikPasswordHelper: A tool which exploits a backdoor in Hikvision camera firmwares circa 2014-2016 to help the owner change a forgotten password.

And for camera firmware older than 2014 or so, you can use an older version of Hikvision's SADP tool and this tool to generate reset codes: Hikvision Password Reset Tool

 

[frogmist]

Thanks a million for all the resources! I have tried these before I contacted HIKVision Tech Support (after reading about many folks' negative experience with them). Unfortunately the cameras' firmware are v5.5.7 hence it didn't work when I tried with the HikPasswordHelper and the WormChickenWizard/hikvision-decrypter.

 

[frogmist]

We finally managed to reset the passwords! Just to update here in case someone encounter the same issues in the future.

We had a few cameras in the network. Previously we exported the XML files of all the cameras and sent them at the same time to the HIKVision tech support. To do that, we clicked on the Forgot Password link for one camera, clicked on the button to export the XML file and then close the "Forgot password" window so that we can move on to the next camera. We did this until we have the XML files for all the cameras and then emailed them to the tech support. We were careful not to reboot the cameras as I read somewhere that the XML files need to be re-exported if the cameras got rebooted. When the tech support reverted with the Reset Codes, we used them to try to reset the passwords immediately but got the Failed error message. We tried a few times with the same outcome.

Finally one of the tech support folks told us to do the XML export one camera at a time. After exporting the XML file, do not close the "Forgot password" window. Send the XML file to them immediately and wait for them to get back with the Reset Code without closing the "Forgot password" window. We followed the instructions and it worked! We managed to change the password for the camera and then we moved on to do the same with the next camera. It seems that we cannot close the "Forgot password" window after exporting the XML file else the XML file becomes invalid.

We are so thankful to folks here who give us advise and support while we were feeling super lost. I am so glad that we finally managed to get the passwords change. Thanks a million!