CVE-2012-3028 in SIMATIC PCS7
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in WebNavigator in Siemens WinCC 7.0 SP3 and earlier, as used in SIMATIC PCS7 and other products, allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users for requests that modify data or cause a denial of service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/13/2021
The CVE-2012-3028 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in Siemens WinCC 7.0 SP3 and earlier versions of the WebNavigator component. This vulnerability specifically affects industrial automation systems including SIMATIC PCS7 and other Siemens products that utilize the WinCC platform for web-based interface management. The flaw resides in the authentication handling mechanism of the web interface, where the system fails to properly validate the origin of HTTP requests, creating a significant security gap that can be exploited by remote attackers to perform unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper request origin verification within the WebNavigator component. When users authenticate to the Siemens WinCC web interface, the system should validate that subsequent requests originate from legitimate sources and contain appropriate security tokens or anti-CSRF mechanisms. However, the vulnerable implementation lacks these protective measures, allowing attackers to craft malicious web pages or exploit existing web content that can trigger authenticated actions on the target system. This flaw operates at the application layer and specifically targets the web-based administrative interface of the WinCC platform, making it particularly dangerous in industrial environments where operational technology systems are often connected to corporate networks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data modification capabilities to include potential denial of service conditions and unauthorized system access. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to perform actions such as changing system configurations, modifying process parameters, creating or deleting user accounts, or disrupting normal operational procedures within industrial control systems. The implications are particularly severe in industrial environments where system integrity and continuous operation are paramount, as unauthorized modifications could lead to production disruptions, safety hazards, or even physical damage to equipment. The vulnerability affects systems that are often considered critical infrastructure components, making the potential impact of exploitation significant from both operational and security perspectives.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2012-3028 should prioritize immediate system updates and patches provided by Siemens to address the identified CSRF vulnerability in the WinCC platform. Organizations should implement network segmentation to isolate industrial control systems from general corporate networks, reducing the attack surface available to remote attackers. Additional protective measures include deploying web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious request patterns, implementing proper input validation and output encoding in web applications, and establishing robust monitoring protocols to detect unauthorized access attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery weaknesses in web applications, and corresponds to ATT&CK technique T1566, which covers social engineering tactics that can be used to exploit such vulnerabilities in operational technology environments. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning of industrial control systems should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses that could be exploited in similar industrial automation platforms.