Privilege escalation in Beckhoff TwinCAT

1) Untrusted pointer dereference

EUVDB-ID: #VU11260

Risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 7.9 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2018-7502

CWE-ID: CWE-822 - Untrusted Pointer Dereference

Exploit availability: Yes

Description

The vulnerability allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target system.

The weakness exists due to improper validation of user-supplied pointer values. A local attacker can execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.

Successful exploitation of the vulnerability may result in system compromise.

Mitigation

Update TwinCAT 3.1 Build 4022 to version 4022.14, TwinCAT 2.11 R3 to version 2300 and recompile TwinCAT 3.1 C++/Matlab modules after update.

Vulnerable software versions

TwinCAT: 2.11 R3 2259 - 3.1 Matlab TC1320

External links

http://download.beckhoff.com/download/Document/product-security/Advisories/advisory-2018-001.pdf

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability. However, proof of concept for this vulnerability is available.