ICS Advisory (ICSA-22-132-14)

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• CVSS v3 7.8
• ATTENTION: Low attack complexity
• Vendor: Siemens
• Equipment: Simcenter Femap
• Vulnerability: Out-of-bounds Write

2. RISK EVALUATION

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could cause code execution if the affected application is used to open a malicious .NEU file.

3. TECHNICAL DETAILS

3.1 AFFECTED PRODUCTS

The following versions of Simcenter Femap, an advanced simulation application, are affected:

• Simcenter Femap: All versions prior to v2020.2

3.2 VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW

3.2.1    OUT-OF-BOUNDS WRITE CWE-787

The affected application contains an out-of-bounds write past the end of an allocated structure while parsing specially crafted .NEU files. This could allow an attacker to execute code in the context of the current process.

CVE-2022-27653 has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 has been calculated; the CVSS vector string is (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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

xina1i of psbc, working with Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative, reported this vulnerability to Siemens and CISA.

4. MITIGATIONS

Siemens recommends users do the following:

• Update Simcenter Femap to v2020.2 or later.
• Do not open untrusted .NEU files in Simcenter Femap.

As a general security measure, Siemens recommends protecting network access to devices with appropriate mechanisms. 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.

For additional information, please refer to Siemens Security Advisory SSA-162616

CISA recommends users take defensive measures to minimize the risk of exploitation of this vulnerability. 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 cisa.gov/ics. 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 cisa.gov/ics 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.

CISA also recommends users take the following measures to protect themselves from social engineering attacks:

• Do not click web links or open unsolicited attachments in email messages.
• Refer to Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams for more information on avoiding email scams.
• Refer to Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks for more information on social engineering attacks.

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

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