Protect yourself against future threats.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
===========================================================================
AUSCERT External Security Bulletin Redistribution
ESB-2015.0400
Advisory (ICSA-15-048-01) Siemens SIMATIC STEP 7 TIA Portal
Vulnerabilities
19 February 2015
===========================================================================
AusCERT Security Bulletin Summary
---------------------------------
Product: Siemens SIMATIC STEP 7 TIA Portal
Publisher: US-CERT
Operating System: Windows
Impact/Access: Unauthorised Access -- Existing Account
Resolution: Patch/Upgrade
CVE Names: CVE-2015-1356 CVE-2015-1355
Original Bulletin:
https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/advisories/ICSA-15-048-01
- --------------------------BEGIN INCLUDED TEXT--------------------
Advisory (ICSA-15-048-01)
Siemens SIMATIC STEP 7 TIA Portal Vulnerabilities
Original release date: February 17, 2015
Legal Notice
All information products included in http://ics-cert.us-cert.gov are provided
"as is" for informational purposes only. The Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) does not provide any warranties of any kind regarding any information
contained within. DHS does not endorse any commercial product or service,
referenced in this product or otherwise. Further dissemination of this product
is governed by the Traffic Light Protocol (TLP) marking in the header. For
more information about TLP, see http://www.us-cert.gov/tlp/.
OVERVIEW
Aleksandr Timorin from Positive Technologies has identified authentication
vulnerabilities in the Siemens SIMATIC STEP 7 TIA Portal application. Siemens
has produced a service pack that mitigates these vulnerabilities.
AFFECTED PRODUCTS
The following Siemens products are affected:
- - SIMATIC STEP 7 TIA Portal: All versions prior to V13 SP1
IMPACT
A local user who is tricked into exploiting these vulnerabilities could
possibly escalate privileges for an attacker. Impact to individual
organizations depends on many factors that are unique to each organization.
NCCIC/ICS-CERT recommends that organizations evaluate the impact of these
vulnerabilities based on their operational environment, architecture, and
product implementation.
BACKGROUND
Siemens is a multinational company headquartered in Munich, Germany.
The affected product, SIMATIC STEP 7 TIA Portal, is engineering software for
SIMATIC products. This software is deployed across several sectors including
Chemical, Energy, Food and Agriculture, and Water and Wastewater Systems.
Siemens estimates that these products are used primarily in the United States
and Europe with a small percentage in Asia.
VULNERABILITY CHARACTERIZATION
VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW
WEAK PASSWORD HASHING[a]
Device user passwords in TIA Portal project files are stored using a weak
hashing algorithm. Attackers with read access to the project file could
possibly reconstruct the passwords for device users.
CVE-2015-1355[b] has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v2 base score
of 2.1 has been assigned; the CVSS vector string is
(AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N).[c]
PERMISSIONS, PRIVILEGES, AND ACCESS CONTROLS[d]
Privilege information for device users is stored unprotected in the TIA Portal
project file. Attackers with access to the project file could possibly read
and modify the permissions for device users in the project file. If
unsuspecting users are tricked to download the manipulated project file to the
device, the user permissions become active.
CVE-2015-1356[e] has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v2 base score
of 2.6 has been assigned; the CVSS vector string is
(AV:L/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N).[f]
VULNERABILITY DETAILS
EXPLOITABILITY
These vulnerabilities are not exploitable remotely without local user
interaction.
EXISTENCE OF EXPLOIT
No known public exploits specifically target these vulnerabilities.
DIFFICULTY
Crafting a working exploit for these vulnerabilities would be difficult.
Social engineering is required to convince the user to accept the malformed
file. Additional user interaction is needed to load the malformed file. This
decreases the likelihood of a successful exploit.
MITIGATION
Siemens provides Service Pack 1 for STEP 7 TIA Portal V13, which mitigates the
vulnerabilities.
http://support.automation.siemens.com/WW/view/en/105825934
For more information on these vulnerabilities and detailed instructions,
please see Siemens Security Advisory SSA-234789 at the following location:
http://www.siemens.com/cert/advisories
ICS-CERT encourages asset owners to take additional defensive measures to
protect against this and other cybersecurity risks.
- - 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 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.
ICS-CERT reminds organizations to perform proper impact analysis and risk
assessment prior to deploying defensive measures.
Additional mitigation guidance and recommended practices are publicly
available in the ICSCERT 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.
In addition, ICS-CERT recommends that 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[g] for more information on
avoiding email scams.
- - Refer to Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks[h] for more
information on social engineering attacks.
a. CWE-916: Use of Password Hash With Insufficient Computational Effort,
http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/916.html, web site last accessed
February 17, 2015.
b. NVD, http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2015-1355, NIST
uses this advisory to create the CVE web site report. This web site will be
active sometime after publication of this advisory.
c. CVSS Calculator,
http://nvd.nist.gov/cvss.cfm?version=2&vector=AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N, web
site last accessed February 17, 2015.
d. CWE-264: Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls,
http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/264.html, web site last accessed
February 17, 2015.
e. NVD, http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2015-1356,
NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE web site report. This web site will
be active sometime after publication of this advisory.
f. CVSS Calculator,
http://nvd.nist.gov/cvss.cfm?version=2&vector=AV:L/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N,
web site last accessed February 17, 2015.
g. Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams,
http://www.us-cert.gov/reading_room/emailscams_0905.pdf, web site last
accessed February 17, 2015.
h. National Cyber Alert System Cyber Security Tip ST04-014,
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-014.html, web site last accessed February
17, 2015.
Contact Information
For any questions related to this report, please contact ICS-CERT at:
Email: ics-cert@hq.dhs.gov
Toll Free: 1-877-776-7585
International Callers: (208) 526-0900
For industrial control systems security information and incident reporting:
http://ics-cert.us-cert.gov
ICS-CERT continuously strives to improve its products and services. You can
help by choosing one of the links below to provide feedback about this
product.
- --------------------------END INCLUDED TEXT--------------------
You have received this e-mail bulletin as a result of your organisation's
registration with AusCERT. The mailing list you are subscribed to is
maintained within your organisation, so if you do not wish to continue
receiving these bulletins you should contact your local IT manager. If
you do not know who that is, please send an email to auscert@auscert.org.au
and we will forward your request to the appropriate person.
NOTE: Third Party Rights
This security bulletin is provided as a service to AusCERT's members. As
AusCERT did not write the document quoted above, AusCERT has had no control
over its content. The decision to follow or act on information or advice
contained in this security bulletin is the responsibility of each user or
organisation, and should be considered in accordance with your organisation's
site policies and procedures. AusCERT takes no responsibility for consequences
which may arise from following or acting on information or advice contained in
this security bulletin.
NOTE: This is only the original release of the security bulletin. It may
not be updated when updates to the original are made. If downloading at
a later date, it is recommended that the bulletin is retrieved directly
from the author's website to ensure that the information is still current.
Contact information for the authors of the original document is included
in the Security Bulletin above. If you have any questions or need further
information, please contact them directly.
Previous advisories and external security bulletins can be retrieved from:
http://www.auscert.org.au/render.html?cid=1980
===========================================================================
Australian Computer Emergency Response Team
The University of Queensland
Brisbane
Qld 4072
Internet Email: auscert@auscert.org.au
Facsimile: (07) 3365 7031
Telephone: (07) 3365 4417 (International: +61 7 3365 4417)
AusCERT personnel answer during Queensland business hours
which are GMT+10:00 (AEST).
On call after hours for member emergencies only.
===========================================================================
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Comment: http://www.auscert.org.au/render.html?it=1967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=naUV
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----