ICS Advisory

Siemens SENTRON powermanager

Last Revised
Alert Code
ICSA-21-315-10

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  • CVSS v3 7.8
  • ATTENTION: Low attack complexity
  • Vendor: Siemens
  • Equipment: SENTRON powermanager
  • Vulnerability: Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource

2. RISK EVALUATION

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an authenticated local attacker to inject arbitrary code and escalate privileges.

3. TECHNICAL DETAILS

3.1 AFFECTED PRODUCTS

The following versions of Siemens SENTRON powermanager, a power monitoring software to analyze energy consumption, are affected:

  • SENTRON powermanager Version 3: All versions

3.2 VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW

3.2.1    INCORRECT PERMISSION ASSIGNMENT FOR CRITICAL RESOURCE CWE-732

The affected application assigns improper access rights to a specific folder containing configuration files.

CVE-2021-37207 has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 has been assigned; the CVSS vector string is (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

3.3 BACKGROUND

  • CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECTORS: Critical Manufacturing
  • COUNTRIES/AREAS DEPLOYED: Worldwide
  • COMPANY HEADQUARTERS LOCATION: Germany

3.4 RESEARCHER

Noam Moshe of Claroty reported this vulnerability to Siemens.

4. MITIGATIONS

Siemens has released a security patch for SENTRON powermanager v3.6 HF1 and recommends updating to the latest version.

Siemens recommends users also harden the application server to prevent local access by untrusted personnel.

As a general security measure, Siemens strongly recommends protecting network access to devices with appropriate mechanisms. In order to operate the devices in a protected IT environment, Siemens recommends configuring the environment according to Siemens’ operational guidelines for industrial security, and to follow the recommendations in the product manuals.

Additional information on Industrial Security by Siemens can be found at: https://www.siemens.com/industrialsecurity

For more information about this issue and the mitigations, please see Siemens security advisory SSA-537983

CISA recommends users take defensive measures to minimize the risk of exploitation of this vulnerability. Specifically, users should:

  • Ensure the least-privilege user principle is followed.

CISA reminds organizations to perform proper impact analysis and risk assessment prior to deploying defensive measures.



CISA also provides a section for control systems security recommended practices on the ICS webpage on us-cert.cisa.gov. 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 on the ICS webpage on us-cert.cisa.gov in the Technical Information Paper, ICS-TIP-12-146-01B--Targeted Cyber Intrusion Detection and Mitigation Strategies.



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

No known public exploits specifically target this vulnerability. This vulnerability is not exploitable remotely.

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

Vendor

Siemens