CVE-2021-32991 in DIAEnergie
Summary
by MITRE • 08/31/2021
Delta Electronics DIAEnergie Version 1.7.5 and prior is vulnerable to cross-site request forgery, which may allow an attacker to cause a user to carry out an action unintentionally.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/03/2021
Delta Electronics DIAEnergie version 1.7.5 and earlier contains a critical cross-site request forgery vulnerability that exposes the system to unauthorized administrative actions. This vulnerability falls under CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery flaws in web applications. The flaw exists due to insufficient validation of request origins and lack of proper anti-CSRF token implementation within the web interface. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious web pages or emails that, when visited by an authenticated user, automatically submit requests to the vulnerable DIAEnergie application without the user's knowledge or consent. The vulnerability represents a significant risk to industrial control systems as it allows unauthorized modification of system configurations, potentially leading to service disruption or compromise of critical infrastructure operations. The attack vector typically involves social engineering techniques where users are tricked into clicking malicious links or visiting compromised websites while maintaining an active session with the DIAEnergie application. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 which covers phishing with malicious attachments, and T1078.004 which involves valid accounts used for persistence and privilege escalation.
The operational impact of this CSRF vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation to potentially compromise the integrity and availability of industrial energy management systems. When an authenticated user visits a malicious page, the application processes requests as if they originated from the legitimate user, enabling attackers to perform administrative functions such as changing user permissions, modifying system parameters, or altering energy consumption settings. The vulnerability is particularly concerning in industrial environments where DIAEnergie systems manage critical power distribution and energy monitoring functions. The lack of proper CSRF protection mechanisms means that even if users are authenticated, their sessions can be hijacked through carefully crafted requests that exploit the trust relationship between the browser and the web application. This creates a scenario where attackers can execute unauthorized operations without needing to bypass authentication mechanisms or exploit other vulnerabilities.
Mitigation strategies for this CSRF vulnerability should focus on implementing robust anti-CSRF token mechanisms and enforcing strict origin validation controls. Organizations should immediately upgrade to Delta Electronics DIAEnergie version 1.7.6 or later, which contains the necessary security patches to address the vulnerability. Additionally, network segmentation should be implemented to limit direct access to the DIAEnergie web interface, and administrators should enforce strong access controls including multi-factor authentication and regular session timeout configurations. Security monitoring should include detection of unusual administrative activities and anomalous request patterns that might indicate CSRF attacks. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers and proper HTTP headers can further enhance protection against cross-site scripting and related attacks. Organizations should also conduct regular security assessments of industrial control systems to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities across their operational technology infrastructure, following guidelines from standards such as NIST SP 800-82 for industrial control systems security.