CVE-2014-9192 in VTScada
Summary
by MITRE
Integer overflow in Trihedral Engineering VTScada (formerly VTS) 6.5 through 9.x before 9.1.20, 10.x before 10.2.22, and 11.x before 11.1.07 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (server crash) via a crafted request, which triggers a large memory allocation.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/25/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-9192 represents a critical integer overflow flaw within Trihedral Engineering VTScada software versions ranging from 6.5 through 9.x before 9.1.20, 10.x before 10.2.22, and 11.x before 11.1.07. This vulnerability resides in the software's handling of network requests and demonstrates a classic security weakness that can be exploited to cause significant operational disruption. The affected systems are industrial control systems that manage critical infrastructure operations, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for operational technology environments. The flaw specifically manifests when the software processes a crafted network request that triggers an integer overflow condition, leading to improper memory allocation calculations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and arithmetic overflow handling within the VTScada server component. When a remote attacker crafts a malicious request containing malformed data that exceeds normal processing parameters, the software's internal integer variables overflow beyond their maximum representable values. This overflow condition causes the application to attempt allocating an extraordinarily large amount of memory, far exceeding what the system can reasonably provide. The underlying cause aligns with CWE-190, which specifically addresses integer overflow conditions that can lead to memory allocation failures and system instability. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and requires no authentication to exploit, making it particularly dangerous for systems exposed to untrusted network traffic.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service conditions, as it can result in complete system crashes that disrupt industrial control processes and potentially compromise safety-critical operations. When the server crashes due to excessive memory allocation, it can lead to extended downtime for industrial processes, requiring manual intervention to restart services and potentially causing production losses. The vulnerability affects multiple major versions of the VTScada platform, indicating a widespread issue that would impact numerous industrial environments including manufacturing facilities, power generation plants, and other critical infrastructure sectors. Network-based exploitation means that attackers can target these systems remotely without requiring physical access, increasing the attack surface and potential impact.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement the vendor-provided patches and updates to mitigate the risk of exploitation. The recommended mitigation strategy involves upgrading to the patched versions of VTScada software, specifically versions 9.1.20, 10.2.22, and 11.1.07 or later. Network segmentation and access controls should be implemented to limit exposure of VTScada servers to untrusted networks, while monitoring systems should be deployed to detect anomalous network traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to the T1499.004 technique related to network denial of service attacks, and the T1071.004 sub-technique for application layer protocol usage. The vulnerability also demonstrates characteristics of T1566.001 related to phishing attacks, as attackers may use social engineering to gain initial access to systems before exploiting this specific flaw. Additionally, organizations should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify any other potentially affected systems and implement proper network monitoring to detect and respond to exploitation attempts effectively.