CVE-2022-47391, CVE-2023-37545,
CVE-2023-37546, CVE-2023-37547,
CVE-2023-37548, CVE-2023-37549,
CVE-2023-37550, CVE-2023-37551,
CVE-2023-37552, CVE-2023-37553,
CVE-2023-37554, CVE-2023-37555,
CVE-2023-37556, CVE-2023-37557,
CVE-2023-37558, CVE-2023-37559
Notice
The information in this document is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by ABB.
ABB provides no warranty, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, for the information contained in this document, and assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. In no event shall ABB or any of its suppliers be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages of any nature or kind arising from the use of this document, or from the use of any hardware or software described in this document, even if ABB or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
This document and parts hereof must not be reproduced or copied without written permission from ABB, and the contents hereof must not be imparted to a third party nor used for any unauthorized purpose.
All rights to registrations and trademarks reside with their respective owners.
Purpose
ABB has a rigorous internal cyber security continuous improvement process which involves regular testing with industry leading tools and periodic assessments to identify potential product issues. Occasionally an issue is determined to be a design or coding flaw with implications that may impact product
cyber security.
When a potential product vulnerability is identified or reported, ABB immediately initiates our vulnerability handling process. This entails validating if the issue is in fact a product issue, identifying root causes,
determining what related products may be impacted, developing a remediation, and notifying end users and governmental organizations.
The resulting Cyber Security Advisory intends to notify customers of the vulnerability and provide details on which products are impacted, how to mitigate the vulnerability or explain workarounds that minimize the potential risk as much as possible. The release of a Cyber Security Advisory should not be misconstrued as an affirmation or indication of an active threat or ongoing campaign targeting the products mentioned here. If ABB is aware of any specific threats, it will be clearly mentioned in the communication.
The publication of this Cyber Security Advisory is an example of ABB’s commitment to the user community in support of this critical topic. Responsible disclosure is an important element in the chain of trust we work to maintain with our many customers. The release of an Advisory provides timely information which is essential to help ensure our customers are fully informed.
Affected products
All AC500 V3 products with firmware version smaller than 3.7.0 are affected by this vulnerability.
Vulnerability IDs
- CVE-2022-47391
- CVE-2023-37545
- CVE-2023-37546
- CVE-2023-37547
- CVE-2023-37548
- CVE-2023-37549
- CVE-2023-37550
- CVE-2023-37551
- CVE-2023-37552
- CVE-2023-37553
- CVE-2023-37554
- CVE-2023-37555
- CVE-2023-37556
- CVE-2023-37557
- CVE-2023-37558
- CVE-2023-37559
Summary
ABB is aware of public reports of vulnerabilities in the product versions listed above.
Depending on the vulnerability, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could cause
- the affected products to read internally from an invalid address or overwrite a heap-based
buffer, potentially leading to a denial-of-service condition. - the integrity of the runtime system to be compromised by files loaded onto the controller
Recommended immediate actions
ABB has developed a new firmware version 3.7.0 fixing these vulnerabilities. This firmware version is released for all AC500 V3 PLC types and available from Automation Builder 2.7.0. Automation Builder 2.7.0 is available for download from the related download site.
All affected products shall be used only as described in the manual in the chapter “Cyber security in AC500 V3 products” especially regarding defense in depth and secure operation. The manual is also available online (Manual for PLC automation with AC500 V3 and Automation Builder 2.7.0).
Vulnerability severity and details
The severity assessment has been performed by using the FIRST Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) v3.1.
The AC500 V3 runtime system contains communication servers for the CODESYS protocol to enable communication with clients like the Automation Builder. The server implementations of CmpApp, CmpAppBP, CmpAppForce and CmpDevice do have the following vulnerabilities.
CVE-2022-47391: Improper Validation of Consistency within Input (CWE-1288)
Specific crafted communication requests with inconsistent content can cause the CmpDevice component to read internally from an invalid address, potentially leading to a denial-of-service condition.
CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 7.5 (High)
CVSS v3.1 Vector: AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVE-2023-37545, CVE-2023-37546, CVE-2023-37547, CVE-2023-37548, CVE-2023-37549,
CVE-2023-37550: Improper Input Validation (CWE-20)
After successful authentication as a user, specific crafted communication requests with inconsistent content can cause the CmpApp component to read internally from an invalid address, potentially leading to a denial-of-service condition.
CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 6.5 (Medium)
CVSS v3.1 Vector: AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVE-2023-37551: Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties (CWE-552)
After successful authentication as a user, specially crafted communication requests can utilize the CmpApp component to download files with any file extensions to the controller. In contrast to the regular file download via CmpFileTransfer, no filtering of certain file types is performed here. As a result, the integrity of the AC500 V3 control runtime system may be compromised by the files loaded onto the controller.
CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 6.5 (Medium)
CVSS v3.1 Vector: AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVE-2023-37552, CVE-2023-37553, CVE-2023-37554, CVE-2023-37555, CVE-2023-37556:
Improper Input Validation (CWE-20)
After successful authentication as a user, specific crafted communication requests with inconsistent content can cause the CmpAppBP component to read internally from an invalid address, potentially leading to a denial-of-service condition.
CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 6.5 (Medium)
CVSS v3.1 Vector: AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVE-2023-37557: Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787)
After successful authentication as a user, specific crafted communication requests can cause the
CmpAppBP component to overwrite a heap-based buffer, which can lead to a denial-of-service condition.
CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 6.5 (Medium)
CVSS v3.1 Vector: AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVE-2023-37558, CVE-2023-37559: Improper Input Validation (CWE-20)
After successful authentication as a user, specific crafted communication requests with inconsistent content can cause the CmpAppForce component to read internally from an invalid address, potentially leading to a denial-of-service condition.
CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 6.5 (Medium)
CVSS v3.1 Vector: AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Mitigating factors
Refer to section “General security recommendations” for further advise on how to keep your system secure.
Workarounds
ABB recommends using the available software update to fix the vulnerabilities.
ABB has tested the following workarounds. Although these workarounds will not correct the underlying vulnerability, they can help block known attack vectors. When a workaround reduces functionality, this is identified below as “Impact of workaround”.
- CVE-2022-47391
ABB has currently found no workaround for this vulnerability. Therefore the PLCs shall only be used as described in the manual in the chapter “Cyber security in AC500 V3 products”. - CVE-2023-37545, CVE-2023-37546, CVE-2023-37547, CVE-2023-37548, CVE-2023-37549,
CVE-2023-37550, CVE-2023-37551, CVE-2023-37552, CVE-2023-37553, CVE-2023-37554,
CVE-2023-37555, CVE-2023-37556, CVE-2023-37557, CVE-2023-37558, CVE-2023-37559
To exploit these vulnerabilities, a successful login to the affected product is required to download and execute the malicious application code to the PLC. The online user management of the affected products therefore protects from exploiting these security vulnerabilities, even in the case that the software update is not applied.
ABB strongly recommends using the online user management. This not only prevents an attacker from downloading and execute malicious code, but also suppresses start, stop, debug, or other actions on a known working application that could potentially disrupt a machine or system.
Frequently asked questions
What is the scope of the vulnerability?
Depending on the vulnerability, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could cause
- the affected products to read internally from an invalid address or overwrite a heap-based
buffer, potentially leading to a denial-of-service condition. - the integrity of the runtime system to be compromised by files loaded onto the controller
What causes the vulnerability?
Refer to section “Vulnerability severity and details “.
What might an attacker use the vulnerability to do?
Refer to section “Vulnerability severity and details “.
How could an attacker exploit the vulnerability?
Refer to section “Vulnerability severity and details “.
Could the vulnerability be exploited remotely?
Yes, an attacker who has network access to an affected system node could exploit this vulnerability. Recommended practices include that process control systems are physically protected, have no direct connections to the Internet, and are separated from other networks by means of a firewall system that has a minimal number of ports exposed.
When this security advisory was issued, had this vulnerability been publicly disclosed?
Yes, this vulnerability has been publicly disclosed.
When this security advisory was issued, had ABB received any reports that this
vulnerability was being exploited?
No, ABB had not received any information indicating that this vulnerability had been exploited when this security advisory was originally issued.
General security recommendations
For any installation of software-related ABB products we strongly recommend the following (non-exhaustive) list of cyber security practices:
– Isolate special purpose networks (e.g. for automation systems) and remote devices behind firewalls.
and separate them from any general purpose network (e.g. office or home networks).
– Install physical controls so no unauthorized personnel can access your devices, components, peripheral equipment, and networks.
– Never connect programming software or computers containing programing software to any network other than the network for the devices that it is intended for.
– Scan all data imported into your environment before use to detect potential malware infections.
– Minimize network exposure for all applications and endpoints to ensure that they are not accessible
from the Internet unless they are designed for such exposure and the intended use requires such.
– Ensure all nodes are always up to date in terms of installed software, operating system and firmware patches as well as anti-virus and firewall.
– When remote access is required, use secure methods, such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). Recognize that VPNs may have vulnerabilities and should be updated to the most current version available. Also, understand that VPNs are only as secure as the connected devices.
More information on recommended practices can be found in the white paper Cyber Security in the AC500 PLC family.
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