CVE-2023-29031 in ArmorStart ST
Summary
by MITRE • 05/11/2023
A cross site scripting vulnerability was discovered in Rockwell Automation's ArmorStart ST product that could potentially allow a malicious user to view and modify sensitive data or make the web page unavailable. User interaction, such as a phishing attack, is required for successful exploitation of this vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/07/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-29031 represents a critical cross site scripting flaw within Rockwell Automation's ArmorStart ST product, a industrial cybersecurity solution designed to protect critical infrastructure systems. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which specifically addresses the injection of malicious scripts into web applications that are intended to be trusted by users. The ArmorStart ST platform serves as a web-based interface for managing industrial security policies and configurations, making it a prime target for attackers seeking to compromise industrial control systems. The vulnerability exists in the application's handling of user-supplied input within web page responses, creating an environment where malicious scripts can be executed in the context of authenticated users' browsers.
The technical exploitation of this XSS vulnerability requires a phishing attack or similar social engineering technique to deliver malicious payloads to unsuspecting users. Attackers can craft specially crafted web requests that, when processed by the ArmorStart ST application, will inject malicious JavaScript code into the web page response. This code can then execute in the context of other users' browsers, potentially allowing attackers to steal session cookies, modify sensitive data, or even redirect users to malicious websites. The vulnerability demonstrates poor input validation and output encoding practices within the web application's user interface components, particularly affecting the application's handling of user-provided parameters that are directly reflected in HTML responses without proper sanitization.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data exposure, potentially compromising the integrity and availability of industrial security configurations. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could access sensitive operational data, modify security policies, or disrupt the normal operation of the industrial control systems being protected by ArmorStart ST. This threat is particularly concerning in industrial environments where security systems are critical to maintaining operational continuity and safety protocols. The requirement for user interaction through phishing attacks suggests that the vulnerability is primarily exploitable through social engineering rather than direct network-based attacks, but this also means that organizations must maintain robust user education and security awareness programs as part of their overall defense strategy.
Organizations utilizing Rockwell Automation's ArmorStart ST should immediately implement mitigations including input validation and output encoding measures to prevent script injection attacks. The recommended approach involves implementing proper content security policies, sanitizing all user-supplied input before processing, and ensuring that all dynamic content is properly escaped before being rendered in web pages. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing web application firewalls and monitoring for suspicious user behavior patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of following secure coding practices as outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and the ATT&CK framework's web application exploitation techniques, particularly focusing on the T1212 technique related to exploitation of web applications for credential theft and data manipulation. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other industrial control system components that may be exposed to similar threats.