CVE-2022-35137 in Lightweight industrial IoT
Summary
by MITRE • 09/29/2022
DGIOT Lightweight industrial IoT v4.5.4 was discovered to contain multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/26/2022
The DGIOT Lightweight industrial IoT platform version 4.5.4 presents a critical security vulnerability through the presence of multiple cross-site scripting flaws that compromise the integrity and confidentiality of user interactions within the system. This vulnerability affects the industrial internet of things infrastructure, where the platform serves as a foundational component for managing connected industrial devices and monitoring systems. The presence of XSS vulnerabilities in such a critical infrastructure platform creates a significant risk for industrial control systems, as these flaws can be exploited to manipulate user sessions, steal sensitive operational data, or compromise the overall security posture of connected industrial environments. The vulnerability specifically manifests in the web interface components of the platform where user-supplied input is not properly sanitized or validated before being rendered back to users, creating opportunities for malicious actors to inject malicious scripts into the application's response.
The technical exploitation of these XSS vulnerabilities occurs through the injection of malicious JavaScript code into input fields or parameters that are subsequently displayed to other users without proper sanitization. This allows attackers to execute scripts in the context of other users' browsers, potentially enabling session hijacking, credential theft, or data exfiltration from the industrial IoT environment. The vulnerability affects multiple components within the platform's user interface, indicating a systemic issue in input validation and output encoding practices throughout the application codebase. These flaws are particularly concerning in industrial settings where the platform may handle sensitive operational data, configuration parameters, and control system information that could be leveraged by adversaries to disrupt industrial processes or gain unauthorized access to critical infrastructure components.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or session manipulation, as it can potentially enable attackers to compromise the entire industrial IoT ecosystem managed by the DGIOT platform. In industrial control environments, where system integrity and availability are paramount, these XSS vulnerabilities could be exploited to manipulate operational data, disrupt monitoring systems, or provide a foothold for more sophisticated attacks targeting the underlying industrial control systems. The vulnerability affects users who interact with the platform through web interfaces, potentially compromising all users who have access to the application, including system administrators, operators, and maintenance personnel who rely on the platform for managing industrial devices. This creates a cascading security risk where a single compromised user session could potentially provide access to broader industrial control systems or sensitive operational data.
The vulnerability can be addressed through comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms that prevent malicious scripts from being executed within the platform's web interface. Organizations should implement proper sanitization of all user-supplied input before rendering it in web pages, and ensure that output encoding is applied consistently throughout the application to prevent script execution in user contexts. Additionally, implementing content security policies can provide an additional layer of protection against XSS attacks by restricting the sources from which scripts can be loaded and executed within the browser environment. The remediation approach should align with industry standards such as those defined in the CWE-79 category for cross-site scripting vulnerabilities and should incorporate defensive programming practices that are recommended in the OWASP Top Ten security guidelines. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and regular security testing to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities that may exist in other components of their industrial IoT infrastructure. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining secure coding practices in industrial software platforms where security failures can have significant operational and safety implications for critical infrastructure environments.