ICS Advisory

Sinapsi eSolar Light Plaintext Passwords Vulnerability

Last Revised
Alert Code
ICSA-15-160-02

OVERVIEW

Independent researcher Maxim Rupp has identified plain text passwords in Sinapsi’s eSolar Light application. Sinapsi has produced a new version to mitigate this vulnerability.

AFFECTED PRODUCTS

The following Sinapsi eSolar Light versions are affected:

  • Sinapsi eSolar Light firmware versions prior to 2.0.3970_schsl_2.2.85.

IMPACT

Access to the plaintext passwords will compromise the confidentiality and integrity of the mail client.

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

BACKGROUND

Sinapsi is an Italy-based company.

The affected product, Sinapsi eSolar Light, is a stand-alone system for the monitoring and management of local and remote maintenance of small size photovoltaic (PV) plants. According to Schneider Electric, Sinapsi eSolar Light is deployed across several sectors including Commercial Facilities, Critical Manufacturing, Energy, Water and Wastewater Systems, and others. Sinapsi estimates that these products are used worldwide.

VULNERABILITY CHARACTERIZATION

VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW

PLAIN TEXT STORAGE OF A PASSWORDCWE-256: Plain Text Storage of a Password, http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/256.html, web site last accessed June 09, 2015.

An attacker is able to view saved passwords from the DNS and mail configuration by viewing the mail configuration page source.

CVE-2015-3949NVD, http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2015-3949, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE web site report. This web site will be active sometime after publication of this advisory. has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v2 base score of 7.2 has been assigned; the CVSS vector string is (AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C).CVSS Calculator, http://nvd.nist.gov/cvss.cfm?version=2&vector=AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C, web site last accessed June 09, 2015.

VULNERABILITY DETAILS

EXPLOITABILITY

This vulnerability is not exploitable remotely and cannot be exploited without user interaction. The exploit is only triggered when a local user accesses the mail configuration option.

EXISTENCE OF EXPLOIT

No known public exploits specifically target this vulnerability.

DIFFICULTY

An attacker with a low skill would be able to exploit this vulnerability.

MITIGATION

Sinapsi has developed a fix for the problem in firmware version 2.0.3970_schsl_2.2.85. Contact Sinapsi through its web site for support in obtaining this firmware.

ICS-CERT recommends that users take defensive measures to minimize the risk of exploitation of this vulnerability by ensuring the firmware version is up to date.

Suggestions for additional mitigation solutions besides updating the firmware include:

  • Limit access to the system to those who need access.
  • Change passwords frequently.
  • Isolate PCs from other functions.
  • Ensure physical security is in place, so that someone cannot just walk in and steal your passwords.

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

Sinapsi