WellinTech KingView ActiveX Vulnerabilities

ICS-CERT is aware of public reporting of two ActiveX vulnerabilities with proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit code, affecting WellinTech KingView, a supervisory control and data acquisition/human-machine interface (SCADA/HMI) product.

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SUMMARY

ICS-CERT is aware of public reporting of two ActiveX vulnerabilities with proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit code, affecting WellinTech KingView, a supervisory control and data acquisition/human-machine interface (SCADA/HMI) product. According to this report, the vulnerabilities are exploitable because the program does not properly sanitize user input. This report was released without coordination with either the vendor or ICS-CERT. ICS-CERT has notified the affected vendor of the report and has asked the vendor to confirm the vulnerabilities and identify mitigations. ICS-CERT is issuing this alert to provide early notice of the report and identify baseline mitigations for reducing risks because of these vulnerabilities and other cybersecurity attacks.

The report included vulnerability details and PoC exploit code for the following vulnerabilities:

Please report any issues affecting control systems in critical infrastructure environments to ICS‑CERT.

The WellinTech KingView product is deployed in multiple industries including power, water, building automation, and mining.

Please report any issues affecting control systems in critical infrastructure environments to ICS‑CERT.

FOLLOWUP

ICS-CERT released the follow-up advisory titled ICSA-13-295-01 WellinTech KingView ActiveX Vulnerabilities on October 22, 2013, on the ICS-CERT Web site.

MITIGATION

The vulnerability reports state that it is possible to correct the flaw by implementing the following workarounds:

• Set the kill-bit on the KChartXY ActiveX Control (CLSID A9A2011A-1E02-4242-AAE0-B239A6F88BAC).
• Set the kill-bit on the SuperGrid ActiveX Control (CLSID F494550F-A028-4817-A7B5-E5F2DCB4A47E).

See Microsoft KB article 240797a for additional details.

ICS-CERT is currently coordinating with the vendor and security researcher to identify mitigations.

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.b
• Locate control system networks and devices behind firewalls, and isolate them from the business network.
• If remote access is required, employ secure methods, such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), recognizing that VPN is only as secure as the connected devices.

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

ICS-CERT also provides a recommended practices section for control systems on the US-CERT Web site. Several recommended practices are available for reading or download, including Improving Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity with Defense-in-Depth Strategies.

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

• a. Microsoft Support article: How to stop an ActiveX control from running in Internet Explorer, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/240797, Web site last accessed September 13, 2013
• b. ICS-CERT ALERT, http://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/alerts/ICS-ALERT-10-301-01, Web site last accessed September 13, 2013.

• WellinTech