5 Medium
CVSS2
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Authentication
NONE
Confidentiality Impact
NONE
Integrity Impact
NONE
Availability Impact
PARTIAL
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
7.5 High
CVSS3
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
NONE
Integrity Impact
NONE
Availability Impact
HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
7.7 High
AI Score
Confidence
High
0.001 Low
EPSS
Percentile
42.6%
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could cause a denial-of-service condition, which could result in a failure of the EcoStruxture Control Expert Simulator.
Schneider Electric reports the vulnerability affects the following PLC simulators:
A vulnerability exists that could cause a crash of the PLC simulator present in EcoStruxure Control Expert software when receiving a specially crafted request over Modbus.
CVE-2020-7538 has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3 base score of 7.5 has been calculated; the CVSS vector string is (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
Parity Dynamics Research Team reported this vulnerability to CISA.
Schneider Electric has released Version 15.0 of the EcoStruxure Control Expert software to mitigate this vulnerability. It is available for download on the Schneider Electric website.
After downloading the fix, the following step is required to mitigate the vulnerability:
The default listening IP address is: 0.0.0.0. The default setting exposes the PLC to the vulnerability described in this advisory.
Schneider Electric recommends using appropriate patching methodologies when applying these patches. It also strongly recommends the use of back-ups and evaluating the impact of these patches in a test and development environment or on offline infrastructure. Contact Schneider Electricβs Customer Care Center for assistance removing a patch.
If users choose not to apply the remediation provided above, they should immediately apply the following mitigations to reduce the risk of exploit:
Please see Schneider Electric Security Notification number SEVD-2020-315-07 for more information.
CISA recommends users take defensive measures to minimize the risk of exploitation of this vulnerability. Specifically, users should:
CISA reminds organizations to perform proper impact analysis and risk assessment prior to deploying defensive measures.
CISA also provides a section for control systems security recommended practices on the ICS webpage on us-cert.cisa.gov. 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 on the ICS webpage on us-cert.cisa.gov in the Technical Information Paper, ICS-TIP-12-146-01BβTargeted Cyber Intrusion Detection and Mitigation Strategies.
Organizations observing any suspected malicious activity should follow their established internal procedures and report their findings to CISA for tracking and correlation against other incidents.
No known public exploits specifically target this vulnerability.
web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2020-7538
cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/754.html
public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCISA/subscriber/new?topic_id=USDHSCISA_138
twitter.com/CISAgov
twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Schneider%20Electric%20PLC%20Simulator%20for%20EcoStruxure%20Control%20Expert+https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-advisories/icsa-20-315-03
us-cert.cisa.gov/ics
us-cert.cisa.gov/ics
us-cert.cisa.gov/ics/alerts/ICS-ALERT-10-301-01
us-cert.cisa.gov/ics/recommended-practices
us-cert.cisa.gov/ics/tips/ICS-TIP-12-146-01B
us-cert.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/recommended_practices/NCCIC_ICS-CERT_Defense_in_Depth_2016_S508C.pdf
www.dhs.gov
www.dhs.gov/foia
www.dhs.gov/performance-financial-reports
www.facebook.com/CISA
www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-advisories/icsa-20-315-03&title=Schneider%20Electric%20PLC%20Simulator%20for%20EcoStruxure%20Control%20Expert
www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.0#CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
www.instagram.com/cisagov
www.linkedin.com/company/cybersecurity-and-infrastructure-security-agency
www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-advisories/icsa-20-315-03
www.oig.dhs.gov/
www.schneider-electric.com/ww/en/download/document/SEVD-2020-315-07
www.se.com/ww/en/download/document/CS-Best-Practices-2019-340/
www.se.com/ww/en/product-range-download/548-ecostruxure%E2%84%A2-control-expert/?parent-subcategory-id=3950&filter=business-1-industrial-automation-and-control&selected-node-id=12365959203#/software-firmware-tab
www.se.com/ww/en/work/support/country-selector/contact-us.jsp
www.surveymonkey.com/r/CISA-cyber-survey?product=https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-advisories/icsa-20-315-03
www.usa.gov/
www.whitehouse.gov/
www.youtube.com/@cisagov
mailto:?subject=Schneider%20Electric%20PLC%20Simulator%20for%20EcoStruxure%20Control%20Expert&body=www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-advisories/icsa-20-315-03
5 Medium
CVSS2
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Authentication
NONE
Confidentiality Impact
NONE
Integrity Impact
NONE
Availability Impact
PARTIAL
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
7.5 High
CVSS3
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
NONE
Integrity Impact
NONE
Availability Impact
HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
7.7 High
AI Score
Confidence
High
0.001 Low
EPSS
Percentile
42.6%