Advantech WebAccess Vulnerabilities (UPDATE A)

OVERVIEW

This advisory follows up on two previous ICS-CERT Alerts:

• “ICS-ALERT-11-245-01—Multiple ActiveX Vulnerabilities in Advantech BroadWin WebAccess,” published September 2, 2011.http://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/alerts/ICS-ALERT-11-245-01, ICS-ALERT-11-245-01, website last accessed February 15, 2012.
• “ICS‑ALERT-11-306-01—Advantech BroadWin WebAccess ActiveX Vulnerability,” published November 2, 2011.http://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/alerts/ICS-ALERT-11-306-01, ICS-ALERT-11-306-01, website last accessed February 15, 2012.

ICS-CERT received both coordinated and uncoordinated reports of eighteen vulnerabilities in BroadWin WebAccess. These vulnerabilities include:

• Cross-site scripting (XSS)
• SQL injection
• Cross-site report forgery (CSRF)
• Authentication issues.

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These vulnerabilities were reported separately by the nSense Vulnerability Coordination Team, Greg MacManus of iSIGHT Partners, Kuang-Chun Hung of Security Research and Service Institute-Information and Communication Security Technology Center (ICST), Luigi Auriemma, Billy Rios, Terry McCorkle, and Snake (alias).

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ICS-CERT has coordinated with Advantech, which has released a new version of WebAccess that addresses most of the reported vulnerabilities. 

AFFECTED PRODUCTS

These vulnerabilities affect all versions of Advantech/BroadWin WebAccess prior to applying the patch (V7.0) listed in the mitigations below.

IMPACT

An attacker can bypass authentication, gain administrative privileges, and remotely execute arbitrary code by exploiting these vulnerabilities.

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

BACKGROUND

Advantech/BroadWin WebAccess is a web-based human-machine interface product used in energy, manufacturing, and building automation systems. The installation base is across Asia, North America, North Africa, and the Middle East.

WebAccess Client is available for computers running Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Server 2003. A thin‑client interface is available for Windows CE and Windows Mobile 5.0.

VULNERABILITY CHARACTERIZATION

VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW

An attacker may use a malformed URL address in a XSS attack to launch JavaScript code.

CVE-2012-0233^{http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2012-0233, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory.} has been assigned to this vulnerability.

An attacker can use a malformed URL address to execute an SQL injection attack.

CVE-2012-0234http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2012-0234, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory. has been assigned to this vulnerability.

The web application does not sufficiently verify whether a request was intentionally provided by the user who submitted the request.

CVE-2012-0235http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2012-0235, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory. has been assigned to this vulnerability.

An unauthenticated user can access restricted information using specific URL addresses.

CVE-2012-0236http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2012-0236, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory. has been assigned to this vulnerability.

This vulnerability can be exploited by using specifically crafted URL addresses, which allows an unauthenticated user to enable or disable date and time syncing.

CVE-2012-0237^{http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2012-0237, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory} has been assigned to this vulnerability.

A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in opcImg.asp that, when exploited, allows an attacker to remotely execute arbitrary code.

CVE-2012-0238http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2012-0238, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory.  has been assigned to this vulnerability.

An authentication vulnerability exists in uaddUpAdmin.asp in Advantech’s WebAccess 7.0—and possibly earlier versions—that, when exploited, allows an attacker to remotely change an administrator’s password. Exploit code is not required to exploit this vulnerability.

CVE-2012-0239^{http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2012-0239, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory.} has been assigned to this vulnerability.

An authentication vulnerability exists in GbScriptAddUp.asp that, when exploited, allows an attacker to remotely execute arbitrary code.

CVE-2012-0240^{http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2012-0240, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory.}  has been assigned to this vulnerability.

A long string input to ActiveX parameters will cause a buffer overflow, which might allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code and gain full control of the server.

CVE-2011-4526^{http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2011-4526, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory.}  has been assigned to this vulnerability.

This vulnerability exists because long string input to parameters will cause a buffer overflow, which could allow execution of arbitrary code.

CVE-2011-4524^{http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2011-4524, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory.}  has been assigned to this vulnerability.

An attacker can load any remote web page and write to a local batch file that will allow arbitrary code execution.

CVE-2011-4525^{http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2011-4525, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory.}  has been assigned to this vulnerability.

This vulnerability exists because string inputs are not checked, allowing attackers to perform SQL injection attacks.

CVE-2011-4521^{http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2011-4521, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory.}  has been assigned to this vulnerability.

This vulnerability exists because malicious cross-site scripts are allowed by parameters of bwerrdn.asp.

CVE-2011-4522^{http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2011-4522, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory.}  has been assigned to this vulnerability.

This vulnerability exists because malicious cross-site scripts are allowed by parameters of bwview.asp.

CVE-2011-4523^{http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2011-4523, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory.}  has been assigned to this vulnerability.

This vulnerability exists because functions are allowed to corrupt arbitrary memory zones through fully controllable stream identifiers.

CVE-2012-0241http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2012-0241, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory.  has been assigned to this vulnerability.

A format string vulnerability can be exploited by the using a message string without the required format arguments.

CVE-2012-0242^{http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2012-0242, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory.}  has been assigned to this vulnerability.

A component used by WebAccess, bwocxrun.ocx, is vulnerable to a buffer overflow vulnerability due to methods that are capable of creating a arbitrary file in arbitrary location. Exploitation could allow the execution of arbitrary code.

CVE-2012-0243^{http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2012-0243, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory.}  has been assigned to this vulnerability.

This vulnerability exists because string inputs are not checked on input, allowing attackers to perform many different SQL injection attacks.

CVE-2012-0244^{http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2012-0244, NIST uses this advisory to create the CVE website report. This website will be active sometime after publication of this advisory.} has been assigned to this vulnerability.

VULNERABILITY DETAILS

All the vulnerabilities contained in this report are remotely exploitable.

Public exploits are known to target these vulnerabilities.

An attacker with low to moderate skill can exploit these vulnerabilities.

MITIGATION

Advantech has created a new version of WebAccess (7.0) that addresses these vulnerabilities.Advantech WebAccess security update, http://webaccess.advantech.com/security.php, website last accessed February 15, 2012. This new version can be obtained at: http://webaccess.advantech.com/downloads.php. Advantech recommends that the new version be installed over the existing installation. If the existing version of WebAccess is uninstalled, the computer must be rebooted before reinstalling WebAccess.

Advantech recommends that customers using the WebAccess product refer to security considerations recommended by their installation manual.WebAccess Quick Installation Guide, BroadWin, http://broadwin.com/Manual/InstallGuide/InstallGuide.htm , website last accessed February 15, 2012.

For further assistance, customers should contact BroadWin support at support@broadwin.com.WebAccess customer notification, http://www.advantechdirect.com/eMarketingPrograms/WebAccess_Patch/WebAccess_Vulnerability.htm , website last accessed February 15, 2012.

ICST, iSIGHT, and ICS-CERT have validated that the new version mitigates Vulnerabilities 1 and 5-16. For Vulnerabilities 2 and 3, the patched version fixes the issue for unauthenticated users; however, the problem still remains for nonadmin project users. Vulnerability 4 was not patched, because Advantech does not consider it to be a security risk. Neither ICS-CERT nor independent researchers have validated that the new version resolves Vulnerabilities 17 and 18. 

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. Critical devices and/or systems should not directly face 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 VPN is only as secure as the connected devices.

The Control Systems Security Program (CSSP) also provides a section for control systems security recommended practices on the ICS-CERT web site. 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 taking defensive measures.

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.

In addition, ICS‑CERT recommends that users take the following measures to protect themselves from social engineering attacks:

1. Do not click web links or open unsolicited attachments in e-mail messages
2. Refer to Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams, http://www.us-cert.gov/reading_room/emailscams_0905.pdf, website last accessed February 15, 2012 for more information on avoiding e-mail scams
3. Refer to Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing AttacksNational Cyber Alert System Cyber Security Tip ST04-014, http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-014.html, website last accessed February 15, 2012 for more information on social engineering attacks.