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AUSCERT External Security Bulletin Redistribution
ESB-2016.1732
GE Proficy HMI SCADA CIMPLICITY Privilege Management Vulnerability
14 July 2016
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AusCERT Security Bulletin Summary
---------------------------------
Product: GE Proficy HMI SCADA CIMPLICITY
Publisher: ICS-CERT
Operating System: Windows
Impact/Access: Execute Arbitrary Code/Commands -- Existing Account
Resolution: Patch/Upgrade
CVE Names: CVE-2016-5787
Original Bulletin:
http://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/advisories/ICSA-16-194-02
Comment: Although proof of concept code has recently being published, the
vulnerability affects an older version of the software that was
patched in 2014.
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Advisory (ICSA-16-194-02)
GE Proficy HMI SCADA CIMPLICITY Privilege Management Vulnerability
Original release date: July 12, 2016
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
Zhou Yu of Acorn Network Security identified an improper privilege management
vulnerability and recently released exploit code for the GE Proficy HMI/SCADA
CIMPLICITY application without coordination with ICS-CERT, the vendor, or any
other coordinating entity known to ICS-CERT. GE produced a new version to
mitigate this vulnerability in August 2014.
Exploits that target this vulnerability are known to be publicly available.
AFFECTED PRODUCTS
The following Proficy HMI/SCADACIMPLICITY versions are affected:
CIMPLICITY Version 8.2, SIM 26 or earlier.
IMPACT
Successful exploitation of the vulnerability may allow an authenticated user
on the system to modify the configuration of the CIMPLICITY service and launch
any executable on the system as a service.
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
GE is a US-based company that maintains offices in several countries around
the world.
The affected product, Proficy HMI/SCADACIMPLICITY, is a Client/Server-based
human-machine interface/supervisory control and data acquisition (HMI/SCADA)
application. According to GE, Proficy HMI/SCADACIMPLICITY is deployed across
several sectors.
VULNERABILITY CHARACTERIZATION
VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW
IMPROPER PRIVILEGE MANAGEMENT [a]
Vulnerable versions may allow users to modify the CIMPLICITY service to edit
the configuration of a service.
CVE-2016-5787 [b] has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3 base score
of 5.7 has been calculated; the CVSS vector string is
(AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L). [c]
VULNERABILITY DETAILS
EXPLOITABILITY
This vulnerability is not exploitable remotely and cannot be exploited without
user interaction. The exploit is only triggered when a local user runs the
vulnerable application and loads a malicious file.
EXISTENCE OF EXPLOIT
Exploits that target this vulnerability are publicly available.
DIFFICULTY
An attacker with a low skill would be able to exploit this vulnerability.
Social engineering is required to convince the user to accept a malicious
file. Additional user interaction is needed to load the malformed file. This
decreases the likelihood of a successful exploit.
MITIGATION
In response to a recent public disclosure of proof-of-concept exploit code, GE
has released a notification to its users of the identified vulnerability in an
older version of the Proficy HMI/SCADACIMPLICITY application, along with the
mitigation. GEs notification is available at the following location:
https://ge-ip.force.com/communities/en_US/Article/GE-Digital-Security-Advisory-GED-16-01
(link is external)
In August 2014, GE released a new version of Proficy HMI/SCADACIMPLICITY,
Version 8.2, Sim 27 that mitigated the identified vulnerability, which is
available at the following location with a valid account:
https://ge-ip.force.com/communities/en_US/Download/CIMPLICITY-8-2-SIM-27-DN
(link is external)
GE recommends that users upgrade to Proficy HMI/SCADACIMPLICITY, Version 8.2,
SIM 27 or later versions. The latest version of CIMPLICITY Version 8.2 SIM 43,
is available at the following location, with a valid account:
https://ge-ip.force.com/communities/en_US/Download/CIMPLICITY-8-2-SIM-43 (link
is external)
ICS-CERT recommends that users take defensive measures to minimize the risk of
exploitation of this vulnerability. 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 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 [d] for more information on
avoiding email scams.
Refer to Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks [e] for more
information on social engineering attacks.
a. CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management,
http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/269.html, web site last accessed July
12, 2016.
b. NVD, http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2016-5787, 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,
https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.0#CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S...,
web site last accessed July 12, 2016.
d. Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams,
http://www.us-cert.gov/reading_room/emailscams_0905.pdf, web site last
accessed July 12, 2016.
e. National Cyber Alert System Cyber Security Tip ST04-014,
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-014.html, web site last accessed July 12,
2016.
Contact Information
For any questions related to this report, please contact ICS-CERT at:
Email: ics-cert@hq.dhs.gov (link sends e-mail)
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.
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The University of Queensland
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