ICS Advisory

GE D60 Line Distance Relay

Last Revised
Alert Code
ICSA-18-046-02

CVSS v3 9.8

ATTENTION: Remotely exploitable/low skill level to exploit.

Vendor: GE

Equipment: D60 Line Distance Relay

Vulnerabilities: Stack-based Buffer Overflow, Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer

AFFECTED PRODUCTS

The following versions of the D60 Line Distance Relay are affected:

  • D60 devices running firmware Version 7.11 and prior.

IMPACT

Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the device.

MITIGATION

GE has released firmware that addresses the vulnerabilities. The latest firmware can be obtained from:

https://www.gegridsolutions.com/app/ViewFiles.aspx?prod=d60&type=7

Authentication will be required to download the firmware.

NCCIC recommends users take defensive measures to minimize the risk of exploitation of these vulnerabilities. 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.

NCCIC reminds organizations to perform proper impact analysis and risk assessment prior to deploying defensive measures.

NCCIC 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 NCCIC Technical Information Paper, ICS-TIP-12-146-01B--Targeted Cyber Intrusion Detection and Mitigation Strategies, that is available for download from the ICS-CERT website.

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

No known public exploits specifically target these vulnerabilities.

VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW

Multiple stack-based buffer overflow vulnerabilities have been identified, which may allow remote code execution.

CVE-2018-5475 has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 has been assigned; the CVSS vector string is (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

The SSH functions of the device are vulnerable to buffer overflow conditions that may allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the device.

CVE-2018-5473 has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 has been assigned; the CVSS vector string is (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

RESEARCHER

Kirill Nesterov of Kaspersky Labs discovered these vulnerabilities, and GE and Kasperksy Labs reported and coordinated the vulnerabilities with NCCIC.

BACKGROUND

Critical Infrastructure Sectors: Energy

Countries/Areas Deployed: Worldwide

Company Headquarters Location: USA

This product is provided subject to this Notification and this Privacy & Use policy.

Vendor

GE