Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component (CVE-2023-29383)

low Tenable OT Security Plugin ID 504259

Synopsis

The remote OT asset is affected by a vulnerability.

Description

In Shadow 4.13, it is possible to inject control characters into fields provided to the SUID program chfn (change finger). Although it is not possible to exploit this directly (e.g., adding a new user fails because \n is in the block list), it is possible to misrepresent the /etc/passwd file when viewed. Use of \r manipulations and Unicode characters to work around blocking of the : character make it possible to give the impression that a new user has been added. In other words, an adversary may be able to convince a system administrator to take the system offline (an indirect, social-engineered denial of service) by demonstrating that cat /etc/passwd shows a rogue user account.

This plugin only works with Tenable.ot.
Please visit https://www.tenable.com/products/tenable-ot for more information.

Solution

Refer to the vendor advisory.

See Also

https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-398330.html

https://support.industry.siemens.com/cs/ww/en/view/109478459/

Plugin Details

Severity: Low

ID: 504259

Version: 1.1

Type: remote

Family: Tenable.ot

Published: 11/13/2025

Updated: 11/13/2025

Supported Sensors: Tenable OT Security

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Low

Score: 2.9

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Low

Base Score: 3.3

Temporal Score: 3

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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: 12/12/2023

Vulnerability Publication Date: 12/12/2023

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2023-29383

CWE: 74