ICS Advisory

Siemens SIMATIC HMI Devices Vulnerabilities (Update E)

Last Revised
Alert Code
ICSA-15-099-01E

OVERVIEW

This updated advisory is a follow-up to the updated advisory titled ICSA-15-099-01D Siemens SIMATIC HMI Devices Vulnerabilities that was published September 10, 2015, on the NCCIC/ICS‑CERT web site.

Siemens has identified three vulnerabilities in its SIMATIC HMI devices. These vulnerabilities were reported directly to Siemens by the Quarkslab team and Ilya Karpov from Positive Technologies. Siemens has produced updates that mitigate these vulnerabilities in all the affected products.

These vulnerabilities could be exploited remotely.

AFFECTED PRODUCTS

Siemens reports that the vulnerability affects the following SIMATIC products:

  • SIMATIC HMI Basic Panels 2nd Generation:
    • V13: All versions < WinCC (TIA Portal) V13 SP1 Upd2
  • SIMATIC HMI Comfort Panels:
    • V12: All versions < WinCC (TIA Portal) V12 SP1 Upd5
    • V13: All versions < WinCC (TIA Portal) V13 SP1 Upd2
  • SIMATIC WinCC Runtime Advanced:
    • V12: All versions < WinCC Runtime Advanced V12 SP1 Upd5
    • V13: All versions < WinCC Runtime Advanced V13 SP1 Upd2
  • SIMATIC WinCC Runtime Professional:
    • V13: All versions < WinCC (TIA Portal) V13 SP1 Upd2
  • SIMATIC HMI Basic Panels 1st Generation (WinCC TIA Portal):
    • V12: All versions < WinCC (TIA Portal) V12 SP1 Upd5
    • V13: All versions < WinCC (TIA Portal) V13 SP1 Upd4
  • SIMATIC HMI Mobile Panel 277 (WinCC TIA Portal):
    • V12: All versions < WinCC (TIA Portal) V12 SP1 Upd5
    • V13: All versions < WinCC (TIA Portal) V13 SP1 Upd4
  • SIMATIC HMI Multi Panels (WinCC TIA Portal):
    • V12: All versions < WinCC (TIA Portal) V12 SP1 Upd5
    • V13: All versions < WinCC (TIA Portal) V13 SP1 Upd4
  • SIMATIC NET PC-Software V12 and V13:
    • SIMATIC NET PC-Software V12: All versions < V12 SP2 HF3
    • SIMATIC NET PC-Software V13: All versions < V13 HF1
  • SIMATIC WinCC V7.X:
    • All versions prior to V7.2
    • V7.2: All version < V7.2 Upd11
    • V7.3: All versions < V7.3 Upd4, and
  • SIMATIC PCS 7: All versions prior to V8.1 SP1.

IMPACT

An attacker exploiting these vulnerabilities could conduct man-in-the-middle attacks, denial‑of‑ service attacks, and possibly authenticate themselves as valid users.

Impact to individual organizations depends on many factors that are unique to each organization. ICS-CERT recommends that organizations evaluate the impact of these vulnerabilities based on their operational environment, architecture, and product implementation.

BACKGROUND

Siemens is a multinational company headquartered in Munich, Germany.

SIMATIC HMI Panels, SIMATIC WinCC Runtime Advanced, and SIMATIC WinCC Runtime Professional are used for operator control and monitoring of machines and plants. SIMATIC NET PC-Software is required for communication between controller (SIMATIC S7 controller) and PC-based solutions (e.g., SIMATIC WinCC). SIMATIC WinCC is a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. It is used to monitor and control physical processes involved in industry and infrastructure on a large scale and over long distances. SIMATIC Automation Tool allows commissioning, adjusting, and service in combination with S7-1200 and S7-1500 Controllers without engineering framework. These products are deployed across several sectors including Chemical, Energy, Food and Agriculture, and Water and Wastewater Systems. Siemens estimates that these products are used primarily in the United States and Europe with a small percentage in Asia.

VULNERABILITY CHARACTERIZATION

VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW

MAN-IN-THE-MIDDLECWE-300: Channel Accessible by Non-Endpoint ('Man-in-the-Middle'), http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/300.html, web site last accessed April 09, 2015.

Attackers with access to the network path between PLCs and their communication partners could possibly intercept or modify Siemens industrial communications at Port 102/TCP and conduct a man-in-the-middle attack.

This vulnerability affects all listed products except SIMATIC PCS 7.

CVE-2015-1601NVD, http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2015-1601, web site last accessed April 09, 2015. has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v2 base score of 5.8 has been assigned; the CVSS vector string is (AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N).CVSS Calculator, http://nvd.nist.gov/cvss.cfm?version=2&vector=AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N, web site last accessed April 09, 2015.

RESOURCE EXHAUSTIONCWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption ('Resource Exhaustion'), http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/400.html, web site last accessed April 09, 2015.

Attackers with access to the network path between an HMI panel and a PLC (man-in-the-middle) could possibly conduct a denial-of-service attack against the HMI panel by sending specially crafted packets to the HMI (Port 102/TCP). This vulnerability affects SIMATIC WinCC Comfort Panels and SIMATIC WinCC Runtime Advanced.

CVE-2015-2822NVD, http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2015-2822, web site last accessed April 23, 2015. has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v2 base score of 7.1 has been assigned; the CVSS vector string is (AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C).CVSS Calculator, http://nvd.nist.gov/cvss.cfm?version=2&vector=AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C, web site last accessed April 09, 2015.

USE OF PASSWORD HASH INSTEAD OF PASSWORD FOR AUTHENTICATIONCWE-836: Use of Password Hash Instead of Password for Authentication, http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/836.html, web site last accessed April 09, 2015.

If attackers obtain password hashes for SIMATIC WinCC users, they could possibly use the hashes to authenticate themselves. This vulnerability affects SIMATIC WinCC and SIMATIC PCS 7.

CVE-2015-2823NVD, http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2015-2823, web site last accessed April 23, 2015. has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v2 base score of 6.8 has been assigned; the CVSS vector string is (AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P).CVSS Calculator, http://nvd.nist.gov/cvss.cfm?version=2&vector=AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P, web site last accessed April 09, 2015.

VULNERABILITY DETAILS

EXPLOITABILITY

These vulnerabilities could be exploited remotely.

EXISTENCE OF EXPLOIT

No known public exploits specifically target these vulnerabilities.

DIFFICULTY

An attacker with medium skill level would be able to exploit these vulnerabilities.

MITIGATION

Siemens provides updates for the following products and recommends customers update to the new fixed versions located at their corresponding web sites listed below:

--------- Begin Update E Part 1 of 1 --------

--------- End Update E Part 1 of 1 ----------

For WinCC (TIA Portal) V12 or V13 devices, Siemens recommends updating the configuration to WinCC (TIA Portal) V13 SP1 and also updating the device version of the HMI to its latest version (provided with WinCC (TIA Portal) V13 SP1 Upd4). Until patches can be applied, Siemens recommends customers to mitigate the risk of their products by implementing the following steps:

As a general security measure Siemens strongly recommends protecting network access with appropriate mechanisms. In order to run the devices in a protected IT environment, it is advised to configure the environment according to Siemens’ operational guidelines.

For more information on these vulnerabilities and detailed instructions, please see Siemens Security Advisories SSA-487246 and SSA-237894 at the following location:

http://www.siemens.com/cert/advisories

ICS-CERT recommends that users take defensive measures to minimize the risk of exploitation of these vulnerabilities. Specifically, users should:

  • Monitor Port 102/TCP, and possibly block all external traffic to that port.
  • Minimize network exposure for all control system devices and/or systems, and ensure that they are not accessible from the Internet.
  • Locate control system networks and remote devices behind firewalls, and isolate them from the business network.
  • When remote access is required, use secure methods, such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), recognizing that VPNs may have vulnerabilities and should be updated to the most current version available. Also recognize that VPN is only as secure as the connected devices.

ICS-CERT reminds organizations to perform proper impact analysis and risk assessment prior to deploying defensive measures.

ICS-CERT also provides a section for control systems security recommended practices on the ICS-CERT web page at: http://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/content/recommended-practices. Several recommended practices are available for reading and download, including Improving Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity with Defense-in-Depth Strategies.

Additional mitigation guidance and recommended practices are publicly available in the ICS‑CERT Technical Information Paper, ICS-TIP-12-146-01B--Targeted Cyber Intrusion Detection and Mitigation Strategies, that is available for download from the ICS-CERT web site (http://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/).

Organizations observing any suspected malicious activity should follow their established internal procedures and report their findings to ICS-CERT for tracking and correlation against other incidents.

This product is provided subject to this Notification and this Privacy & Use policy.

Vendor

Siemens

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