ICS Advisory

Siemens SIMATIC Products (Update C)

Last Revised
Alert Code
ICSA-19-344-04

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  • CVSS v3 3.7
  • ATTENTION: Exploitable remotely
  • Vendor: Siemens
  • Equipment: SIMATIC CP 1626; HMI Panel (incl. SIPLUS variants); NET PC software; STEP 7 (TIA Portal); WinCC (TIA Portal); WinCC OA; WinCC Runtime (Pro and Advanced); TIM 1531 IRC (incl. SIPLUS variant)
  • Vulnerability: Exposed Dangerous Method or Function

2. UPDATE INFORMATION

This updated advisory is a follow-up to the advisory update titled ICSA-19-344-04 Siemens SIMATIC Products (Update B) that was posted March 10, 2020, to the ICS webpage on www.cisa.gov/uscert.

3. RISK EVALUATION

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker already in a man-in-the-middle position to modify network traffic exchanged on Port 102/TCP.

4. TECHNICAL DETAILS

4.1 AFFECTED PRODUCTS

The following Siemens products are affected:

--------- Begin Update C Part 1 of 2 --------

  • SIMATIC CP 1626: all versions
  • SIMATIC NET PC Software v14: all versions prior to v14 SP1 Update 14
  • SIMATIC NET PC Software v15: all versions

--------- End Update C Part 1 of 2 --------

  • SIMATIC HMI Panel (incl. SIPLUS variants): all versions
  • SIMATIC STEP 7 (TIA Portal): all versions prior to v16
  • SIMATIC WinCC (TIA Portal): all versions prior to v16
  • SIMATIC WinCC OA: all versions prior to, and including, v3.15
  • SIMATIC WinCC OA: all versions prior to, and including, v3.16 patch 12
  • SIMATIC WinCC Runtime Advanced: all versions
  • SIMATIC WinCC Runtime Professional: all versions
  • TIM 1531 IRC (incl. SIPLUS NET variants): all versions prior to v2.1

4.2 VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW

4.2.1    USE OF BROKEN OR RISKY CRYPTOGRAPHIC ALGORITHM CWE-327

An attacker in a man-in-the-middle position could modify network traffic exchanged on Port 102/TCP. Successful exploitation requires an attacker be able to perform a man-in-the-middle attack. Subsequent exploitation of this vulnerability could compromise communication integrity of the affected system.

CVE-2019-10929 has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3.1 base score of 3.7 has been calculated; the CVSS vector string is (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N).

4.3 BACKGROUND

  • CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECTORS: Chemical, Critical Manufacturing, Energy, Food and Agriculture, Water and Wastewater Systems
  • COUNTRIES/AREAS DEPLOYED: Worldwide
  • COMPANY HEADQUARTERS LOCATION: Germany

4.4 RESEARCHER

Eli Biham, Sara Bitan, Aviad Carmel, and Alon Dankner from Faculty of Computer Science, Technion Haifa, reported this vulnerability to Siemens.

Uriel Malin and Avishai Wool from the School of Electrical Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, also reported this vulnerability to Siemens.

5. MITIGATIONS

Siemens has released updates for the following affected products and recommends users update to the new version:

--------- Begin Update C Part 2 of 2 --------

--------- End Update C Part 2 of 2 --------

Siemens is preparing further updates and recommends users apply the following specific countermeasures to reduce the risk until additional patches are available:

As a general security measure, Siemens strongly recommends protecting network access to devices with appropriate mechanisms. Siemens recommends users configure their environment according to the Siemens Operational Guidelines for Industrial Security and follow the recommendations in the product manuals to operate the devices in a protected environment.

Additional information on industrial security by Siemens can be found at: https://www.siemens.com/industrialsecurity

For further inquiries on security vulnerabilities in Siemens products, please contact the Siemens ProductCERT: http://www.siemens.com/cert/advisories

For more information on the vulnerability and more detailed mitigation instructions, please see Siemens Security Advisory SSA-273799

CISA recommends users take defensive measures to minimize the risk of exploitation of this vulnerability. Specifically, users should:

  • Ensure that control system equipment is physically protected (e.g., in locked control panels).
  • Implement physical access control to areas in which control system devices are located.

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. 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 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.

No known public exploits specifically target this vulnerability. High skill level is required to exploit this vulnerability.

This product is provided subject to this Notification and this Privacy & Use policy.

Vendor

  • Siemens

Please share your thoughts

We recently updated our anonymous product survey; we’d welcome your feedback.