XZERES 442SR Wind Turbine CSRF Vulnerability

OVERVIEW

Independent researcher Maxim Rupp has identified a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in XZERES’s 442SR turbine generator operating system (OS). XZERES has produced a patch to mitigate this vulnerability.

This vulnerability could be exploited remotely.

AFFECTED PRODUCTS

The following XZERES product is affected:

• 442SR Wind Turbine.

IMPACT

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability allows the ID to be retrieved from the browser and will allow the default ID to be changed. This exploit can cause a loss of power for all attached systems.

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

XZERES is a US-based energy company that maintains offices in several countries around the world, including the UK, Italy, Japan, Caribbean, Vietnam, Philippines, and Myanmar.

The affected product, 442SR Wind Turbine, has a web-based interface system. According to XZERES, the 442SR is deployed across the Energy sector. XZERES estimates that this product is used worldwide.

VULNERABILITY CHARACTERIZATION

VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW

The 442SR OS recognizes both the POST and GET methods for data input. By using the GET method, an attacker may retrieve the ID from the browser and will allow the default user ID to be changed. The default user has admin rights to the entire system.

CVE-2015-3950NVD, http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2015-3950, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE web site report. This web site will be active sometime after publication of this advisory. has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v2 base score of 10 has been assigned; the CVSS vector string is (AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C).CVSS Calculator, http://nvd.nist.gov/cvss.cfm?version=2&vector=AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C, web site last accessed June 04, 2015.

VULNERABILITY DETAILS

EXPLOITABILITY

This vulnerability could be exploited remotely.

EXISTENCE OF EXPLOIT

No known public exploits specifically target this vulnerability.

DIFFICULTY

Crafting a working exploit for this vulnerability would be easy. There is no public exploit for this exact vulnerability. However, code exists online that can be easily modified to initiate a CSRF with this vulnerability.

MITIGATION

XZERES has developed a manually deployable patch that mitigates this vulnerability.

Contact XZERES Service Team at 1-877-404-9438 (option 4) for instructions and support implementing the patch.

ICS-CERT encourages asset owners to take additional defensive measures to protect against this and other cybersecurity risks.

• 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 also provides a section for control systems security recommended practices on the ICS-CERT web page at: http://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/content/recommended-practices. Several recommended practices are available for reading and download, including Improving Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity with Defense-in-Depth Strategies. ICS-CERT reminds organizations to perform proper impact analysis and risk assessment prior to deploying defensive measures.

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 (http://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/).

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.