CVE-2019-13946 Explained : Impact and Mitigation
Learn about CVE-2019-13946, a denial of service vulnerability in Siemens products due to resource allocation issues in the PNIO stack. Find out affected systems, exploitation details, and mitigation steps.
A denial of service vulnerability in Siemens products could allow an attacker to compromise device availability without system privileges or user interaction.
Understanding CVE-2019-13946
Siemens products are affected by a denial of service vulnerability that could be exploited by an attacker with network access.
What is CVE-2019-13946?
The vulnerability arises from insufficient resource allocation in Profinet-IO (PNIO) stack versions before V06.00, leading to a denial of service situation.
The Impact of CVE-2019-13946
Devices with vulnerable stack versions may experience denial of service due to memory depletion, potentially compromising device availability.
Technical Details of CVE-2019-13946
Siemens products are affected by a denial of service vulnerability due to resource allocation issues in the PNIO stack.
Vulnerability Description
The vulnerability allows attackers to exploit the DCE-RPC interface, sending multiple diagnostic package requests to exhaust device memory, causing a denial of service.
Affected Systems and Versions
- Development/Evaluation Kits for PROFINET IO: DK Standard Ethernet Controller (All versions)
- Development/Evaluation Kits for PROFINET IO: EK-ERTEC 200 (All Versions < V4.5)
- Various SCALANCE products with versions < V4.3
- SIMATIC CP and ET200 series with affected versions
Exploitation Mechanism
- Attacker sends multiple legitimate requests for diagnostic packages to the DCE-RPC interface
- Devices with vulnerable stack versions may experience memory depletion and denial of service
Mitigation and Prevention
Steps to address and prevent the CVE-2019-13946 vulnerability in Siemens products.
Immediate Steps to Take
- Apply patches provided by Siemens to affected products
- Implement network segmentation to limit attacker access
- Monitor network traffic for suspicious activities
Long-Term Security Practices
- Regularly update and patch Siemens products to address vulnerabilities
- Conduct security assessments and audits to identify and mitigate risks
Patching and Updates
- Siemens may release patches to address the vulnerability, which should be applied promptly