ICS Advisory

Visonic PowerLink2 Vulnerabilities

Last Revised
Alert Code
ICSA-16-348-01

OVERVIEW

Independent researcher Aditya K. Sood has identified cross-site scripting and source code disclosure vulnerabilities in Visonic’s PowerLink2 module. Visonic has produced an updated version to mitigate these vulnerabilities.

These vulnerabilities could be exploited remotely.

AFFECTED PRODUCTS

The following PowerLink2 versions are affected:

  • PowerLink2, all versions prior to October 2016 firmware release.

IMPACT

Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities allows the attacker to gather information on how server side images are generated. Careful analysis combined with some additional information (from testing the product), allows the attacker to download images from the server.

Impact to individual organizations depends on many factors that are unique to each organization. NCCIC/ICS-CERT recommends that organizations evaluate the impact of these vulnerabilities based on their operational environment, architecture, and product implementation.

BACKGROUND

Visonic is an Israel-based company and subsidiary of Tyco, that maintains offices in several countries around the world, including the US, UK, Denmark, Poland, Spain, Germany, Singapore, China, and Australia.

The affected product, PowerLink2, provides web interface to view and control an intrusion security system. According to Visonic, PowerLink2 modules are deployed in the Commercial Facilities sector. Visonic estimates that this product is used primarily in the United States and Europe with a small percentage in Asia.

VULNERABILITY CHARACTERIZATION

VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW

CROSS-SITE SCRIPTINGCWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting'), http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/79.html, web site last accessed December 13, 2016.

User controlled input is not neutralized prior to being placed in web page output.

CVE-2016-5811NVD, http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2016-5811, 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 v3 base score of 6.1 has been assigned; the CVSS vector string is (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N).CVSS Calculator, https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.0#CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N, web site last accessed December 13, 2016.

INFORMATION EXPOSURECWE-200: Information Exposure, http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/200.html, web site last accessed December 13, 2016.

When a specific URL to an image is accessed, the downloaded image carries with it source code used in the web server.

CVE-2016-5813NVD, http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2016-5813, 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 v3 base score of 5.3 has been assigned; the CVSS vector string is (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N).CVSS Calculator, https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.0#CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N, web site last accessed December 13, 2016.

VULNERABILITY DETAILS

EXPLOITABILITY

These vulnerabilities could be exploited remotely.

EXISTENCE OF EXPLOIT

No known public exploits specifically target these vulnerabilities.

DIFFICULTY

An attacker with low skill would be able to exploit these vulnerabilities.

MITIGATION

Visonic recommends affected users employ the following mitigations:

  • For products that are EOL (end of life), contact the alarm service provider to replace/upgrade the unit to PowerLink3.
  • For products still under production, request that the alarm service provider remotely update the unit with the new firmware version released October 2016.

ICS-CERT recommends that 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.

ICS-CERT reminds organizations to perform proper impact analysis and risk assessment prior to deploying defensive measures.

ICS-CERT 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 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.

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.

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

Vendor

Visonic