Siemens RUGGEDCOM APE1808, SIMATIC S7-1500 External Control of File Name or Path (CVE-2023-38546)

low Tenable OT Security Plugin ID 503943

Synopsis

The remote OT asset is affected by a vulnerability.

Description

This flaw allows an attacker to insert cookies at will into a running program using libcurl, if the specific series of conditions are met.
libcurl performs transfers. In its API, an application creates easy handles that are the individual handles for single transfers.
libcurl provides a function call that duplicates en easy handle called [curl_easy_duphandle](https://curl.se/libcurl/c/curl_easy_duphandle.ht ml). If a transfer has cookies enabled when the handle is duplicated, the cookie-enable state is also cloned - but without cloning the actual cookies. If the source handle did not read any cookies from a specific file on disk, the cloned version of the handle would instead store the file name as `none` (using the four ASCII letters, no quotes). Subsequent use of the cloned handle that does not explicitly set a source to load cookies from would then inadvertently load cookies from a file named `none` - if such a file exists and is readable in the current directory of the program using libcurl. And if using the correct file format of course.

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

- RUGGEDCOM APE1808: Contact customer support to receive patch and update information.
- RUGGEDCOM APE1808 (CVE-2024-21762): Disable SSL VPN (disable webmode is NOT a valid workaround) (see https://www.fortiguard.com/psirt/FG-IR-24-015).
- RUGGEDCOM APE1808 (CVE-2024-23113): For each interface, remove the fgfm access (see https://www.fortiguard.com/psirt/FG-IR-24-029).

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

Additional information on industrial security by Siemens can be found on the Siemens industrial security webpage.

For more information see the associated Siemens security advisory SSA-832273 in HTML and CSAF.

Plugin Details

Severity: Low

ID: 503943

File Name: tenable_ot_siemens_CVE-2023-38546.nasl

Version: 1.3

Type: remote

Family: Tenable.ot

Published: 11/13/2025

Updated: 2/14/2026

Supported Sensors: Tenable OT Security

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Low

Score: 2.2

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Low

Base Score: 3.7

Temporal Score: 3.4

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

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:siemens:simatic_s7-1500_cpu_firmware:3.1.5, cpe:/o:siemens:siplus_s7-1500_cpu_firmware:3.1.5

Required KB Items: Tenable.ot/Siemens

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 2/13/2024

Vulnerability Publication Date: 2/13/2024

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2023-38546

CWE: 73

ICSA: 23-348-10, 24-074-05

Detections

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