Siemens SIMATIC S7-300 CPU Improper Input Validation (CVE-2018-16561)

high Tenable OT Security Plugin ID 500219

Synopsis

The remote OT asset is affected by a vulnerability.

Description

A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC S7-300 CPUs (All versions < V3.X.16). The affected CPUs improperly validate S7 communication packets which could cause a Denial-of-Service condition of the CPU. The CPU will remain in DEFECT mode until manual restart. Successful exploitation requires an attacker to be able to send a specially crafted S7 communication packet to a communication interface of the CPU. This includes Ethernet, PROFIBUS, and Multi Point Interfaces (MPI). No user interaction or privileges are required to exploit the security vulnerability. The vulnerability could allow causing a Denial-of-Service condition of the core functionality of the CPU, compromising the availability of the system. At the time of advisory publication no public exploitation of this security vulnerability was known. Siemens confirms the security vulnerability and provides mitigations to resolve the security issue. This plugin only works with Tenable.ot. Please visit https://www.tenable.com/products/tenable-ot for more information.

Solution

The following text was originally created by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The original can be found at CISA.gov.

Siemens recommends users update to Version 3.X.16, which can be downloaded from the following link:https://support.industry.siemens.com/cs/ww/en/ps/13752/dlSiemens has identified the following specific workarounds and mitigations users can apply to reduce the risk:

- Siemens recommends operating the devices only within trusted networks

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 Siemens’ operational guidelines for industrial security (https://www.siemens.com/cert/operational-guidelines-industrial-security), and following the recommendations in the product manuals.Additional information on industrial security by Siemens can be found at:
https://www.siemens.com/industrialsecurity

For more information on this vulnerability and associated software updates, please see Siemens security advisory SSA-306710 on their website: https://www.siemens.com/cert/advisories

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 500219

Version: 1.7

Type: remote

Family: Tenable.ot

Published: 2/7/2022

Updated: 3/4/2024

Supported Sensors: Tenable OT Security

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Low

Score: 3.6

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

Temporal Score: 5.8

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2018-16561

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Temporal Score: 6.5

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:siemens:simatic_s7-300_firmware:-, cpe:/o:siemens:simatic_s7-300f_firmware:-, cpe:/o:siemens:simatic_s7-300fs_firmware:-, cpe:/o:siemens:simatic_s7-300t_firmware:-

Required KB Items: Tenable.ot/Siemens

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 4/17/2019

Vulnerability Publication Date: 4/17/2019

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2018-16561

Detections

Analytics