RLE Nova-Wind Turbine HMI Unsecure Credentials Vulnerability (Update A)

OVERVIEW

This updated advisory is a follow-up to the original advisory titled ICSA-15-162-01 RLE Nova‑Wind Turbine HMI Unsecure Credentials Vulnerability that was published June 11, 2015, on the NCCIC/ICS-CERT web site.

Independent researcher Maxim Rupp has identified an unsecure credential vulnerability in the RLE International GmbH Nova-Wind Turbine HMI. RLE has been unresponsive in validating or addressing the alleged vulnerability. ICS-CERT is releasing this advisory to warn and protect critical asset owners of this serious issue.

This vulnerability could be exploited remotely.

AFFECTED PRODUCTS

The following RLE International GmbH product is affected:

• Nova-Wind Turbine HMI

IMPACT

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Plain text credentials can be used to gain unauthorized access to the device. This means that a malicious party could perform any action on the device including change or modify configurations and settings.

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Impact to individual organizations depends on many factors that are unique to each organization. ICS-CERT recommends that organizations evaluate the impact of this vulnerability based on their operational environment, architecture, and product implementation

BACKGROUND

RLE International GmbH is a Germany-based company that maintains offices in several countries around the world, including the US, UK, Sweden, and India.

The affected product, Nova-Wind Turbine HMI, is a human-machine interface (HMI) for a wind turbine. This product is used in the Energy Sector.

VULNERABILITY CHARACTERIZATION

VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW

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The Nova-Wind Turbine HMI stores credentials in a plaintext file. If a malicious user recovers this file, then they could use the credentials to authenticate with the HMI and make changes to the configuration.

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CVE-2015-3951NVD, http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2015-3951, web site last accessed June 15, 2015. has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v2 base score of 10.0 has been assigned; the CVSS vector string is (AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C).CVSS Calculator, http://nvd.nist.gov/cvss.cfm?version=2&vector=AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C, web site last accessed June 11, 2015.

VULNERABILITY DETAILS

EXPLOITABILITY

This vulnerability could be exploited remotely.

EXISTENCE OF EXPLOIT

No known public exploits specifically target this vulnerability.

DIFFICULTY

An attacker with a low skill would be able to exploit this vulnerability.

MITIGATION

ICS-CERT has attempted on multiple occasions to contact the vendor regarding this serious flaw and have according to our vulnerability disclosure policy now produced this advisory. Insecure credential vulnerabilities create a serious risk to asset owners. ICS-CERT strongly recommends ensuring that the impacted product is not connected to the Internet or any network as this vulnerability is remotely exploitable.

ICS-CERT recommends that users take defensive measures to minimize the risk of exploitation of this vulnerability. Specifically, users should:

• Locate control system networks and remote devices behind firewalls, and isolate them from the business network.

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 ICS‑CERT 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.

• RLE Nova-Wind