CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2018-11454 — Siemens Simatic Step 7 (Tia Portal) security vulnerability

High CVSS 8.6

A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC STEP 7 (TIA Portal) and WinCC (TIA Portal) V10, V11, V12 (All versions), SIMATIC STEP 7 (TIA Portal) and WinCC (TIA Portal) V13 (All versions < V13 SP2 Update 2), SIMATIC STEP 7 (TIA Portal) and WinCC (TIA Portal) V14 (All versions < V14 SP1 Update 6), SIMATIC STEP 7 (TIA Portal) and WinCC (TIA Portal) V15 (All versions < V15 Update 2). Improper file permissions in the default installation of TIA Portal may allow an attacker with local file system access to manipulate resources which may be transferred to devices and executed there by a different user. No special privileges are required, but the victim needs to transfer the manipulated files to a device. Execution is caused on the target device rather than on the PG device.

Severity
High
CVSS
8.6 (3.0)
Published
2018-08-07
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-276, CWE-732

Affected products

  • siemens / simatic_step_7_(tia_portal) / 10.0
  • siemens / simatic_step_7_(tia_portal) / 11.0
  • siemens / simatic_step_7_(tia_portal) / 12.0
  • siemens / simatic_step_7_(tia_portal) / 13.0
  • siemens / simatic_step_7_(tia_portal) / 14.0
  • siemens / simatic_step_7_(tia_portal) / 15.0

Showing 6 representative product identities from 13 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Privilege escalation and unsafe privilege management

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Check exposure

  • Map service accounts, operating-system identities, roles, capabilities, impersonation, set-user transitions, and administrative helper paths.
  • Determine whether untrusted users or lower-privilege processes can reach the affected transition or modify inputs it trusts.
  • Review file, socket, registry, device, job, container, and cloud-role permissions used before and after privilege changes.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and redesign privileged operations as a minimal, authenticated, allowlisted interface.
  • Drop privileges before processing untrusted input, verify the drop succeeds, and remove unnecessary roles, capabilities, and write permissions.
  • Validate ownership and permissions at time of use and add explicit lower-to-higher privilege boundary tests.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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