CVE-2018-7848 in Modicon M580
Summary
by MITRE
A CWE-200: Information Exposure vulnerability exists in all versions of the Modicon M580, Modicon M340, Modicon Quantum, and Modicon Premium which could cause the disclosure of SNMP information when reading files from the controller over Modbus
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/23/2023
The CVE-2018-7848 vulnerability represents a significant information exposure flaw affecting several legacy industrial control systems from Schneider Electric including the Modicon M580, M340, Quantum, and Premium series controllers. This vulnerability resides within the Modbus protocol implementation and specifically targets the handling of file read operations that can inadvertently expose sensitive Simple Network Management Protocol SNMP information. The flaw exists at the application layer where the controllers fail to properly sanitize or restrict access to internal system information during Modbus file read operations, creating a pathway for unauthorized information disclosure.
This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-200, which defines information exposure as a weakness where a system inadvertently reveals sensitive information to unauthorized parties. The technical implementation flaw occurs when the affected controllers process Modbus requests to read files from their internal storage systems. During these operations, the controllers do not adequately validate or restrict the scope of information that can be accessed through the Modbus interface, allowing attackers to extract SNMP community strings, configuration data, and potentially other sensitive operational parameters that should remain restricted to authorized personnel only.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure to potentially enable more sophisticated attacks within industrial control environments. An attacker who can successfully exploit this vulnerability gains access to SNMP credentials and configuration details that could provide insights into the network topology, device configurations, and operational parameters of the affected industrial systems. This information exposure creates opportunities for attackers to escalate their privileges, conduct reconnaissance for additional vulnerabilities, or launch targeted attacks against other systems within the industrial network infrastructure. The implications are particularly concerning in critical infrastructure environments where these controllers may be part of larger operational technology networks that require strict access controls and information protection.
Organizations operating these affected controllers should implement immediate mitigations including network segmentation to isolate these devices from general network access, implementing strict Modbus protocol filtering to prevent unauthorized file read operations, and ensuring that SNMP community strings are properly configured with minimal required access permissions. Additionally, regular security assessments should be conducted to verify that no unauthorized access paths exist, and that proper access controls are in place to prevent the exploitation of this information exposure vulnerability. The vulnerability underscores the importance of secure configuration management and access control implementation in industrial control systems, aligning with ATT&CK framework techniques related to credential access and reconnaissance activities that could leverage such information exposure flaws to compromise industrial environments.