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CVE-2017-16726: Beckhoff Twincat: Improper Authorization

CVE-2017-16726 is rated critical with a CVSS v3.0 base score of 9.1 and affects Beckhoff Twincat. Per its scoring, it can be exploited over the network, without authentication, without any user interaction.

Vulnerability description

Beckhoff TwinCAT supports communication over ADS. ADS is a protocol for industrial automation in protected environments. ADS has not been designed to achieve security purposes and therefore does not include any encryption algorithms because of their negative effect on performance and throughput. An attacker can forge arbitrary ADS packets when legitimate ADS traffic is observable.

Severity breakdown

CVSS v3.0 9.1: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

  • Attack vector: Network. Exploitable remotely over the network, with no need for local or physical access.
  • Attack complexity: Low. No special conditions; the attack can be repeated reliably.
  • Privileges required: None. No account or prior access is needed.
  • User interaction: None. No action from any user is needed.
  • Scope: Unchanged. Impact stays within the vulnerable component.
  • Confidentiality impact: High. Total loss of confidentiality; sensitive data can be fully disclosed.
  • Integrity impact: High. Total loss of integrity; data or system state can be fully modified.
  • Availability impact: None. No effect on availability.

Underlying weakness

CWE-285: Improper Authorization

The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.

CWE-326: Inadequate Encryption Strength

The product stores or transmits sensitive data using an encryption scheme that is theoretically sound, but is not strong enough for the level of protection required.

Affected products

  • Beckhoff Twincat: all versions listed by NVD

References