ICS Advisory

Saia Burgess Controls PCD Controller Hard-coded Password Vulnerability

Last Revised
Alert Code
ICSA-15-335-01

OVERVIEW

Independent researcher Artyom Kurbatov has identified a hard-coded password vulnerability in Saia Burgess Controls’s family of PCD controllers. Saia Burgess Controls has produced a new firmware version to mitigate this vulnerability. Artyom Kurbatov has tested the new firmware version to validate that it resolves the vulnerability.

This vulnerability could be exploited remotely.

AFFECTED PRODUCTS

Saia Burgess Controls reports that the vulnerability affects the following Saia PCD Controllers:

  • PCD1.M0xx0/M2xx0, PCD2.M5xx0, PCD3.Mxxx0, PCD3.Mxx60, PCD7.D4xxxT5F, PCD7.D4xxV, PCD7.D4xxD, PCD7.D4xxWTPF versions prior to 1.24.50,
  • PCD3.T665, PCD3.T666 versions prior to 1.24.41,
  • PCD7.D4xxxT5F versions prior to 1.24.50,
  • PCD7.D4xxV VGA MB Panels versions prior to 1.24.50,
  • PCD7.D4xxD SVGA MB Panels versions prior to 1.24.50, and
  • PCD7.D4xxWTPF WVGA MB Panels versions prior to 1.24.50.

IMPACT

An attacker who exploits this vulnerability would have administrative access to the target device and resources.

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

Saia Burgess Controls is a Switzerland-based company that maintains offices worldwide.

The affected products, the Saia PCD controller family, are programmable controllers for measuring, regulation, and control tasks. The Saia PCD controller family is deployed across several sectors including the Chemical and Energy sectors. These products are used worldwide.

VULNERABILITY CHARACTERIZATION

VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW

USE OF HARD-CODED PASSWORDCWE-259: Use of Hard-coded Password, http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/259.html, web site last accessed December 01, 2015.

Undocumented hard-coded credentials allow FTP access to the device.

CVE-2015-7911NVD, http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2015-7911, 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 v3 base score of 9.1 has been assigned; the CVSS vector string is (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N).CVSS Calculator, https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.0#CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N, web site last accessed December 01, 2015.

VULNERABILITY DETAILS

EXPLOITABILITY

This vulnerability could be exploited remotely.

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

Saia Burgess Controls has released a new firmware version, Version 1.24.50, to mitigate the reported vulnerability. The new version is available at the following URL:

https://www.sbc-support.com/en/product-index/firmware-for-saia-pcdr-cosinus/firmware-used-in-production/

Saia Burgess Controls provides more information and instructions in their own customer notification document on their web site at the following location:

https://www.sbc-support.com/en/product-category/communication-protocols/pcd-on-internet/upgrade-it-security

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

  • 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

Saia Burgess Controls