CVE-2016-5809 in ION73XX
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered on Schneider Electric IONXXXX series power meters ION73XX series, ION75XX series, ION76XX series, ION8650 series, ION8800 series, and PM5XXX series. There is no CSRF Token generated to authenticate the user during a session. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability can allow unauthorized configuration changes to be made and saved.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/21/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-5809 affects Schneider Electric power meters across multiple series including ION73XX, ION75XX, ION76XX, ION8650, ION8800, and PM5XXX models. This represents a critical security flaw in industrial control systems where authentication mechanisms fail to properly validate user sessions. The absence of Cross-Site Request Forgery tokens creates a fundamental weakness in the web-based management interface of these devices, which are commonly deployed in critical infrastructure environments for power monitoring and management.
This vulnerability stems from the lack of proper session validation mechanisms within the web application layer of the affected Schneider Electric devices. The absence of CSRF tokens means that malicious actors can potentially craft malicious requests that appear to originate from authenticated users, bypassing the normal authentication flow. The flaw exists at the application layer where the web interface fails to implement adequate protection against unauthorized configuration modifications. According to CWE-352, this represents a classic Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerability where the application does not validate that requests originate from legitimate authenticated users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for organizations relying on these power monitoring devices. An attacker who gains access to the network can exploit this weakness to make unauthorized changes to device configurations, potentially disrupting power management operations or creating security breaches within the facility's infrastructure. The ability to save unauthorized configuration changes means that attackers could modify critical parameters such as monitoring thresholds, communication settings, or access controls, leading to potential operational failures or security compromises. This vulnerability particularly affects environments where these devices are connected to corporate networks and where physical access to the devices is not strictly controlled.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-5809 should prioritize network segmentation and access control measures to limit exposure of these devices to unauthorized network traffic. Organizations should implement strict network access controls using firewalls and access control lists to restrict access to the device management interfaces. The most effective long-term solution involves updating the firmware of affected devices to versions that implement proper CSRF token validation mechanisms. Additionally, administrators should ensure that default credentials are changed and that access to these devices is restricted to authorized personnel only. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1071.004 for application layer protocol usage and T1566 for credential harvesting, emphasizing the need for comprehensive security controls. Network monitoring should be implemented to detect anomalous configuration changes that might indicate exploitation attempts, and regular security assessments should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in industrial control systems.