Siemens SIMATIC Energy Manager

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• CVSS v3 10.0
• ATTENTION: Exploitable remotely/low attack complexity
• Vendor: Siemens
• Equipment: SIMATIC Energy Manager
• Vulnerabilities: Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource, Uncontrolled Search Path Element, Deserialization of Untrusted Data

2. RISK EVALUATION

Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to obtain local/remote code execution and local privilege escalation.

3. TECHNICAL DETAILS

3.1 AFFECTED PRODUCTS

The following Siemens products are affected:

• SIMATIC Energy Manager Basic: All versions prior to v7.3 Update 1
• SIMATIC Energy Manager PRO: All versions prior to v7.3 Update 1

3.2 VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW

3.2.1    INCORRECT PERMISSION ASSIGNMENT FOR CRITICAL RESOURCE CWE-732

Affected applications improperly assign permissions to critical directories and files used by the application processes. This could allow a local unprivileged attacker to achieve code execution with Administrator or even NT Authority/System privileges.

CVE-2022-23448 has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3 base score of 7.3 has been calculated; the CVSS vector string is (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

3.2.2    UNCONTROLLED SEARCH PATH ELEMENT CWE-427

A DLL Hijacking vulnerability could allow a local attacker to execute code with elevated privileges by placing a malicious DLL in one of the directories on the DLL search path.

CVE-2022-23449 has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3 base score of 7.3 has been calculated; the CVSS vector string is (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

3.2.3    DESERIALIZATION OF UNTRUSTED DATA CWE-502

The affected system allows remote users to send maliciously crafted objects. Due to insecure deserialization of user-supplied content by the affected software, an unauthenticated attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a maliciously crafted serialized object. This could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the device with System privileges.

CVE-2022-23450 has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3 base score of 10.0 has been calculated; the CVSS vector string is (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).

3.3 BACKGROUND

• CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECTORS: Multiple Sectors
• COUNTRIES/AREAS DEPLOYED: Worldwide
• COMPANY HEADQUARTERS LOCATION: Germany

3.4 RESEARCHER

Noam Moshe of Claroty reported these vulnerabilities to Siemens.

4. MITIGATIONS

Siemens recommends updating their software to the latest version:

• SIMATIC Energy Manager Basic: Update to v7.3 Update 1 or later versions
• SIMATIC Energy Manager PRO: Update to v7.3 Update 1 or later versions

Siemens has identified the following specific workarounds and mitigations users can apply to reduce the risk:

• Restrict access to the affected systems, especially to Port 4444/TCP, to trusted IP addresses only
• Enable encryption in the SIMATIC Energy Manager configuration

As a general security measure, Siemens strongly recommends protecting network access to devices with appropriate mechanisms. In order to operate the devices in a protected IT environment, Siemens recommends configuring the environment according to the Siemens operational guidelines for industrial security and following the recommendations in the product manuals.

For additional information, please refer to Siemens Security Advisory SSA-655554

 

CISA recommends 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 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 VPNs may have vulnerabilities and should be updated to the most current version available. Also recognize VPN is only as secure as its connected devices.

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.

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 these vulnerabilities.

 

• Siemens