A critical vulnerability in Siemens SCADA and PCS 7 systems has been identified, allowing unauthenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary code with high privileges. The flaw, discovered in multiple Siemens products, arises from the DB server running with elevated privileges. This vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-35783, can enable attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands, potentially compromising the affected systems. It is particularly concerning given the impact on critical infrastructure sectors such as chemical, energy, and water systems, where security breaches could lead to significant operational disruptions.
The vulnerability has been rated with a CVSS v4 base score of 9.4, reflecting its high severity and remote exploitability. It affects several versions of Siemens products, including SIMATIC BATCH, SIMATIC Information Server, SIMATIC PCS 7, and SIMATIC WinCC, with various versions prior to certain updates being vulnerable. Siemens reports that all affected products run their DB server with unnecessarily high privileges, making them more susceptible to attack by authenticated attackers with administrative rights. The issue was reported by researcher Tim Dijkman of Powerspex and subsequently addressed by Siemens and CISA.
To mitigate the risk, Siemens has released updates for the affected products, advising users to upgrade to the latest versions, such as SIMATIC WinCC V7.5 SP2 Update 18 or V8.0 Update 5. In addition to software updates, Siemens recommends securing network access to the devices and configuring systems according to their industrial security guidelines. Siemens also emphasizes the importance of ensuring that control systems are isolated from business networks, particularly when remote access is required. They further suggest the use of secure methods like VPNs to protect communications, while highlighting that these should be regularly updated to maintain security.
CISA has reinforced the importance of implementing defensive measures to prevent exploitation of this vulnerability. While no public exploitations have been reported at the time, organizations are urged to take proactive steps by minimizing network exposure and performing thorough risk assessments before deploying any defensive strategies. CISA’s guidance also includes resources on improving industrial cybersecurity and implementing defense-in-depth strategies to strengthen overall system security.
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