CVE-2019-9010 in CODESYS Control V3
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in 3S-Smart CODESYS V3 products. The CODESYS Gateway does not correctly verify the ownership of a communication channel. All variants of the following CODESYS V3 products in all versions prior to v3.5.14.20 that contain the CmpGateway component are affected, regardless of the CPU type or operating system: CODESYS Control for BeagleBone, CODESYS Control for emPC-A/iMX6, CODESYS Control for IOT2000, CODESYS Control for Linux, CODESYS Control for PFC100, CODESYS Control for PFC200, CODESYS Control for Raspberry Pi, CODESYS Control V3 Runtime System Toolkit, CODESYS Gateway V3, CODESYS V3 Development System.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/26/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-9010 represents a critical authorization flaw within the CODESYS Gateway component of 3S-Smart CODESYS V3 products, specifically addressing improper verification of communication channel ownership. This weakness stems from the gateway's failure to adequately validate the legitimate ownership of communication channels, creating a potential pathway for unauthorized entities to manipulate or access network resources. The flaw affects a broad range of industrial control systems and embedded platforms that utilize the CODESYS V3 framework, including various hardware variants such as BeagleBone, IOT2000, Raspberry Pi, and multiple PFC series controllers. The vulnerability exists across all versions prior to v3.5.14.20, regardless of the underlying CPU architecture or operating system implementation, indicating a fundamental design flaw within the gateway's access control mechanisms.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization issues in software systems, specifically targeting the failure to properly verify ownership or access rights to network resources. This authorization bypass allows attackers to potentially manipulate communication channels without proper authentication, creating opportunities for man-in-the-middle attacks, data interception, or unauthorized control of industrial processes. The impact extends beyond simple network access, as these affected systems typically operate within critical infrastructure environments where communication integrity and access control are paramount. The vulnerability's presence in the CODESYS Gateway component suggests that the flaw occurs at the protocol handling layer where communication channels are established and managed, potentially allowing malicious actors to establish unauthorized communication paths or disrupt legitimate network operations.
The operational implications of this vulnerability are particularly severe in industrial control environments where CODESYS V3 products are commonly deployed for process automation and industrial IoT applications. Attackers could exploit this weakness to gain unauthorized access to industrial communication channels, potentially leading to process disruption, data manipulation, or even physical system compromise. The vulnerability affects systems that may be running in critical infrastructure sectors including manufacturing, energy, and process control environments where the integrity of communication channels directly impacts operational safety and security. Organizations using these affected products face increased risk of cyber-attacks that could result in production downtime, data breaches, or safety incidents. The broad scope of affected hardware platforms means that the potential attack surface is extensive, covering various embedded systems that may be deployed in remote or isolated industrial environments where traditional network security measures might be limited.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2019-9010 should prioritize immediate firmware updates to versions v3.5.14.20 or later, which contain the necessary fixes for the communication channel ownership verification mechanism. System administrators should also implement network segmentation and access controls to limit the potential impact of any successful exploitation attempts. Additional defensive measures include monitoring network traffic for unusual communication patterns, implementing network intrusion detection systems, and conducting thorough security assessments of industrial control networks. The vulnerability's classification under ATT&CK technique T1071.004 for application layer protocol communication suggests that attackers may leverage this weakness to establish persistent communication channels within industrial networks, making comprehensive network monitoring and anomaly detection essential for early threat identification. Organizations should also consider implementing zero-trust network architectures where every communication attempt is verified regardless of its source or previous access history, particularly in environments where these CODESYS V3 products are deployed. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning of industrial control systems are recommended to identify and remediate similar authorization flaws that may exist within the broader industrial IoT ecosystem.