Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 Improper Certificate Validation (CVE-2021-22926)

high Tenable OT Security Plugin ID 504038

Synopsis

The remote OT asset is affected by a vulnerability.

Description

libcurl-using applications can ask for a specific client certificate to be used in a transfer. This is done with the CURLOPT_SSLCERT option (--cert with the command line tool).When libcurl is built to use the macOS native TLS library Secure Transport, an application can ask for the client certificate by name or with a file name - using the same option. If the name exists as a file, it will be used instead of by name.If the appliction runs with a current working directory that is writable by other users (like /tmp), a malicious user can create a file name with the same name as the app wants to use by name, and thereby trick the application to use the file based cert instead of the one referred to by name making libcurl send the wrong client certificate in the TLS connection handshake.

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:

- SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4AX00-1AB0): Only build and run applications from trusted sources.
Currently no fix is available.
- SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4AX00-1AC0): Only build and run applications from trusted sources.
Currently no fix is available.
- SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4FX00-1AB0): Only build and run applications from trusted sources.
Currently no fix is available.
- SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4FX00-1AC0): Only build and run applications from trusted sources.
Currently no fix is available.
- SIPLUS S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP (6AG1518-4AX00-4AC0): Only build and run applications from trusted sources.
Currently no fix is available.

Note: This SSA advises vulnerabilities for firmware version V3.1 only; for versions prior to V3.1 refer to SiemensSecurity Bulletin SSB-439005.

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-398330 in HTML and CSAF.

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 504038

File Name: tenable_ot_siemens_CVE-2021-22926.nasl

Version: 1.3

Type: remote

Family: Tenable.ot

Published: 11/13/2025

Updated: 3/5/2026

Supported Sensors: Tenable OT Security

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.4

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Temporal Score: 6.7

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: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: 3/8/2022

Vulnerability Publication Date: 3/8/2022

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2021-22926

CWE: 295

ICSA: 23-348-10

Detections

Analytics