GE Proficy HMI/SCADA iFIX, Proficy HMI/SCADA CIMPLICITY, and Proficy Historian Vulnerability (Update B)

OVERVIEW

This updated advisory is a follow-up to the updated advisory titled ICSA-16-336-05A GE Proficy HMI/SCADA IFIX, Proficy HMI/SCADA CIMPLICITY, and Proficy Historian Vulnerability that was published January 24, 2017, on the NCCIC/ICS-CERT web site.

GE has reported an insufficiently protected credentials vulnerability in Proficy Human-Machine Interface/Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (HMI/SCADA) iFIX, Proficy HMI/SCADA CIMPLICITY, and Proficy Historian software. This vulnerability was identified by Ilya Karpov of Positive Technologies. GE has produced new versions to mitigate this vulnerability.

AFFECTED PRODUCTS

The following GE products are affected:

• Proficy HMI/SCADA iFIX Version 5.8 SIM 13 and prior versions,
• Proficy HMI/SCADA CIMPLICITY Version 9.0 and prior versions, and
• Proficy Historian Version 6.0 and prior versions.

IMPACT

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may allow an attacker to retrieve user passwords.

Impact to individual organizations depends on many factors that are unique to each organization. NCCIC/ICS-CERT recommends that organizations evaluate the impact of this vulnerability based on their operational environment, architecture, and product implementation.

BACKGROUND

GE is a US-based company that maintains offices in several countries around the world.

The affected product, Proficy HMI/SCADA iFIX, is a HMI/SCADA application. Proficy HMI/SCADA-CIMPLICITY is a client/server-based HMI/SCADA application. Proficy Historian is a data historian that collects, archives, and distributes production information. According to GE, these products are deployed across multiple sectors worldwide. They are sold by GE Digital, GE’s Automation and Control business, and by GE’s resellers and distributors. GE estimates that these products are used worldwide.

VULNERABILITY CHARACTERIZATION

VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW

INSUFFICIENTLY PROTECTED CREDENTIALSCWE-522: Insufficiently Protected Credentials, https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/522.html, web site last accessed January 17, 2017.

An attacker may be able to retrieve user passwords if he or she has access to an authenticated session.

CVE-2016-9360NVD, https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2016-9360, web site last accessed May 18, 2017. has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3 base score of 6.4 has been assigned; the CVSS vector string is (AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:L).CVSS Calculator, https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.0#CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:L, web site last accessed January 17, 2017.

VULNERABILITY DETAILS

EXPLOITABILITY

This vulnerability is not exploitable remotely and cannot be exploited without user interaction.

EXISTENCE OF EXPLOIT

No known public exploits specifically target this vulnerability_._

DIFFICULTY

An attacker with high skill would be able to exploit this vulnerability.

MITIGATION

GE has released new product versions with new product names to address the identified vulnerability in the affected products. GE has released the iFIX software, Version 5.8 SIM 14, which is available at the following location with a valid account:

<https://digitalsupport.ge.com/communities/cc_login?startURL=%2Fen_US%2FDownload%2FiFIX-5-8-Service-Pack-2&gt;

GE has also released a new version of the CIMPLICITY software, Version 9.5, and the Historian, Version 7.0, which are available by contacting a GE Digital representative. Contact information for GE is available at the following location:

<https://digitalsupport.ge.com/communities/CC_Contact&gt;

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GE has released new versions of the Historian software, Version 6.0 SIM 9 (Standard and Enterprise):

<https://ge-ip.force.com/communities/en_US/Download/Historian-Standard-6-0-SP1-SIM-9&gt;

<https://ge-ip.force.com/communities/en_US/Download/Historian-Enterprise-6-0-SP1-SIM-9&gt;

GE has released a new version of the Historian software, Version 5.5 SIM 37:

<https://ge-ip.force.com/communities/en_US/Download/Historian-5-5-SIM-37&gt;

GE has released a new version of the HMI/SCADA iFIX 5.8 SIM 14:

<https://digitalsupport.ge.com/communities/en_US/Download/iFIX-5-8-Service-Pack-2&gt;

GE has released a new version of the HMI/SCADA iFIX software, Version 5.5. iFIX users with versions earlier than Version 5.5 who cannot upgrade can call GE Support.

GE has released a new version of the CIMPLICITY software, Version 8.2 SIM 49:

<https://ge-ip.force.com/communities/en_US/Download/CIMPLICITY-8-2-SIM-49&gt;

GE has released a new version of the CIMPLICITY software, Version 9.0 SIM 22:

<https://ge-ip.force.com/communities/en_US/Download/CIMPLICITY-9-0-SIM-22&gt;

GE Digital recommends that all users upgrade to GE HMI/SCADA CIMPLICITY 9.5. For users unable to upgrade to GE HMI/SCADA CIMPLICITY 9.5, the following steps may mitigate the risks described above:

• Enable project configuration security and limit the number of users that have access to the workbench to only those that need to configure the project.
• Enable Windows domain authentication so that CIMPLICITY users’ passwords are not stored in CIMPLICITY.

--------- End Update B Part 1 of 1 ----------

GE’s Product Bulletin is available at the following URL:

<https://digitalsupport.ge.com/communities/en_US/Article/GE-Digital-Security-Advisory-GED-16-02&gt;

ICS-CERT recommends that users take defensive measures to minimize the risk of exploitation of this vulnerability. Specifically, users should:

• Minimize network exposure for all control system devices and/or systems, and ensure that they are not accessible from the Internet.
• Locate control system networks and remote devices behind firewalls, and isolate them from the business network.
• When remote access is required, use secure methods, such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), recognizing that VPNs may have vulnerabilities and should be updated to the most current version available. Also recognize that VPN is only as secure as the connected devices.

ICS-CERT reminds organizations to perform proper impact analysis and risk assessment prior to deploying defensive measures.

ICS-CERT also provides a section for control systems security recommended practices on the ICS-CERT web page. Several recommended practices are available for reading and download, including Improving Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity with Defense-in-Depth Strategies_._

Additional mitigation guidance and recommended practices are publicly available in the ICS‑CERT Technical Information Paper, ICS-TIP-12-146-01B–Targeted Cyber Intrusion Detection and Mitigation Strategies, that is available for download from the ICS-CERT web site.

Organizations observing any suspected malicious activity should follow their established internal procedures and report their findings to ICS-CERT for tracking and correlation against other incidents.