CVE-2020-12502 in RocketLinx Comtrol
Summary
by MITRE • 10/16/2020
Improper Authorization vulnerability of Pepperl+Fuchs P+F Comtrol RocketLinx ES7510-XT, ES8509-XT, ES8510-XT, ES9528-XTv2, ES7506, ES7510, ES7528, ES8508, ES8508F, ES8510, ES8510-XTE, ES9528/ES9528-XT (all versions) and ICRL-M-8RJ45/4SFP-G-DIN, ICRL-M-16RJ45/4CP-G-DIN FW 1.2.3 and below is prone to unauthenticated device administration.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/18/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-12502 represents a critical improper authorization flaw affecting multiple Pepperl+Fuchs communication devices within their Comtrol RocketLinx product line. This security weakness impacts a broad range of industrial networking equipment including models such as ES7510-XT, ES8509-XT, ES8510-XT, ES9528-XTv2, ES7506, ES7510, ES7528, ES8508, ES8508F, ES8510, ES8510-XTE, ES9528/ES9528-XT, as well as ICRL-M-8RJ45/4SFP-G-DIN and ICRL-M-16RJ45/4CP-G-DIN devices running firmware versions 1.2.3 and below. The flaw fundamentally compromises the authentication mechanisms that should protect administrative access to these industrial control systems.
This vulnerability stems from inadequate authorization controls that allow any remote attacker to gain administrative privileges without proper authentication credentials. The technical implementation fails to enforce proper access controls, creating an unauthenticated administrative interface that can be exploited by threat actors to execute privileged operations. The flaw exists at the protocol level where administrative functions are exposed without requiring valid user authentication or session validation, making it particularly dangerous in industrial environments where such devices often serve as critical network infrastructure components.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted within industrial control systems and critical infrastructure environments. Attackers can exploit this weakness to gain complete administrative control over affected devices, potentially leading to unauthorized configuration changes, data manipulation, or disruption of industrial processes. The vulnerability affects devices that typically operate in secure industrial networks where physical security and network segmentation are expected to provide protection, but the lack of authentication creates a dangerous attack surface that bypasses traditional network security controls. This weakness is particularly concerning in environments where these devices serve as network gateways or communication bridges between operational technology and information technology systems.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization issues in software systems. The flaw represents a classic case of insufficient access control where administrative functions are exposed without proper authentication mechanisms. The vulnerability also maps to several ATT&CK techniques including T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for credential harvesting, as attackers can leverage this weakness to establish persistent administrative access. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including firmware updates to versions that address the authentication flaw, network segmentation to isolate affected devices, and monitoring for unauthorized administrative access attempts. The vulnerability underscores the importance of secure-by-design principles in industrial networking equipment and highlights the critical need for regular security assessments of operational technology infrastructure.