CVE-2022-43716 in SIMATIC CP 1242-7 V2
Summary
by MITRE • 04/11/2023
A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC CP 1242-7 V2 (All versions), SIMATIC CP 1243-1 (All versions), SIMATIC CP 1243-1 DNP3 (incl. SIPLUS variants) (All versions), SIMATIC CP 1243-1 IEC (incl. SIPLUS variants) (All versions), SIMATIC CP 1243-7 LTE EU (All versions), SIMATIC CP 1243-7 LTE US (All versions), SIMATIC CP 1243-8 IRC (All versions), SIMATIC CP 1542SP-1 (All versions), SIMATIC CP 1542SP-1 IRC (All versions), SIMATIC CP 1543SP-1 (All versions), SIMATIC CP 443-1 (All versions < V3.3), SIMATIC CP 443-1 (All versions < V3.3), SIMATIC CP 443-1 Advanced (All versions < V3.3), SIMATIC IPC DiagBase (All versions), SIMATIC IPC DiagMonitor (All versions), SIPLUS ET 200SP CP 1542SP-1 IRC TX RAIL (All versions), SIPLUS ET 200SP CP 1543SP-1 ISEC (All versions), SIPLUS ET 200SP CP 1543SP-1 ISEC TX RAIL (All versions), SIPLUS NET CP 1242-7 V2 (All versions), SIPLUS NET CP 443-1 (All versions < V3.3), SIPLUS NET CP 443-1 Advanced (All versions < V3.3), SIPLUS S7-1200 CP 1243-1 (All versions), SIPLUS S7-1200 CP 1243-1 RAIL (All versions), SIPLUS TIM 1531 IRC (All versions < V2.3.6), TIM 1531 IRC (All versions < V2.3.6). The webserver of the affected products contains a vulnerability that may lead to a denial of service condition. An attacker may cause a denial of service situation which leads to a restart of the webserver of the affected product.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/11/2024
This vulnerability affects a wide range of Siemens industrial communication processors and embedded systems including various CP 1242-7, CP 1243-1, CP 1243-7, CP 1243-8, CP 1542SP-1, CP 1543SP-1, CP 443-1, IPC DiagBase, IPC DiagMonitor, ET 200SP, SIPLUS NET, and TIM series devices. The vulnerability exists within the webserver component of these industrial control systems, which are commonly deployed in critical infrastructure environments including manufacturing plants, process control facilities, and industrial automation systems. These devices typically operate in environments where continuous operation is essential for safety and productivity, making any potential denial of service condition particularly concerning from a cybersecurity perspective.
The technical flaw manifests as a vulnerability within the webserver implementation that allows remote attackers to trigger a denial of service condition. When exploited, this vulnerability causes the webserver component to restart automatically, effectively disrupting the communication capabilities of the affected industrial devices. This restart behavior represents a classic denial of service vector where an attacker can repeatedly trigger the vulnerable condition to maintain service disruption. The vulnerability affects multiple product variants across different series, indicating a fundamental flaw in the webserver implementation rather than a product-specific issue. The affected products span across various industrial communication protocols including DNP3, IEC, LTE, and IRC variants, suggesting the vulnerability impacts the core webserver functionality regardless of the communication protocol being used.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption as it can severely compromise industrial control systems that rely on these communication processors for network connectivity and remote management. In critical infrastructure environments, the automatic restart of webserver components can lead to loss of remote monitoring capabilities, disruption of configuration management, and potential cascading effects on connected industrial processes. The vulnerability particularly affects devices operating in environments where network availability is crucial for maintenance operations, remote diagnostics, and system management. Organizations utilizing these devices may experience operational downtime that can range from minutes to hours depending on the frequency of attacks and the time required for manual intervention or automatic recovery processes. The vulnerability's impact is amplified in environments where these devices are part of larger industrial networks or integrated with SCADA systems where communication disruptions can affect broader operational processes.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on immediate patching of affected devices where available, network segmentation to limit access to these webserver components, and implementation of access controls to restrict who can interact with the vulnerable webserver functionality. Organizations should also consider disabling unnecessary webserver services when they are not actively required for operational purposes. Given that this vulnerability affects multiple product lines across different generations, systematic vulnerability management processes should be implemented to identify and remediate all affected devices within the industrial network infrastructure. Network monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual restart patterns or repeated connection attempts that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-400 which classifies "Uncontrolled Resource Consumption" and potentially relates to ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for "Endpoint Denial of Service" and T1566.001 for "Phishing with Social Engineering" if attackers attempt to exploit this through social engineering tactics to gain initial access to the systems.