CISA’s recent alert discloses critical vulnerabilities in the Industrial Control Systems Network Protocol Parsers’ Ethercat Plugin for Zeek, marked by a CVSS v3 score of 9.8. These vulnerabilities, encompassing out-of-bounds write and read issues, could potentially allow remote code execution, posing a serious threat to industrial control systems. Cameron Whitehead of HACK@UCF reported these vulnerabilities to CISA.
The affected plugin versions, d78dda6 and prior, are specified, and corresponding CVEs (CVE-2023-7244, CVE-2023-7243, CVE-2023-7242) have been assigned. CISA strongly recommends users to update to commit 3bca34c or later to mitigate the risks associated with these vulnerabilities.
Mitigation measures include minimizing network exposure, using secure remote access methods like VPNs, and deploying firewalls to isolate control system networks. CISA underscores the importance of keeping software updates current and performing thorough impact analysis and risk assessments before implementing defensive measures.
The alert also highlights the global impact, with the Ethercat Zeek Plugin deployed worldwide across critical infrastructure sectors. While no public exploitation has been reported, organizations are urged to follow established procedures and report any suspicious activity to CISA for tracking and correlation.
