Siemens WinCC TIA Portal Vulnerabilities
Low RiskICS-CERT ICSA-13-079-03Dec 22, 2013
Summary
WinCC (TIA Portal) V11 contains multiple vulnerabilities including input validation flaws (CWE-20), cross-site scripting (CWE-79), improper header handling (CWE-113), and insufficient restriction of executable functionality (CWE-425). These allow attackers to inject code, manipulate project data, or gain unauthorized access within the engineering environment. All versions of V11 are affected. No vendor patch is available.
What this means
What could happen
WinCC TIA Portal V11 contains multiple vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to inject malicious code, manipulate data integrity, or gain unauthorized access to industrial automation projects, potentially compromising the engineering environment used to configure and manage plant control systems.
Who's at risk
This affects any organization using Siemens WinCC TIA Portal V11 to design and engineer industrial automation systems—including water/wastewater treatment plants, electric utilities, manufacturing facilities, and any facility relying on Siemens PLCs and SCADA systems. The vulnerability is in the engineering environment, not production devices, but compromise of projects could be deployed to running systems.
How it could be exploited
An attacker with access to the WinCC engineering workstation could exploit input validation flaws (CWE-20) or cross-site scripting vulnerabilities (CWE-79) to inject malicious commands into automation projects. Depending on network placement and authentication controls, exploitation could occur through compromised project files, malicious uploads, or direct access to the engineering interface.
Prerequisites
- Access to WinCC TIA Portal V11 engineering workstation or project files
- Ability to create or modify automation projects in the system
- Potentially local network access or ability to deliver malicious project files
No patch available for V11Input validation and encoding flaws (CWE-20, CWE-79)Affects engineering/project integrity, not just runtimeEnd-of-life product
Exploitability
Low exploit probability (EPSS 0.4%)
Affected products (1)
ProductAffected VersionsFix Status
WinCC (TIA Portal) V11: vers:all/*All versionsNo fix (EOL)
Remediation & Mitigation
0/5
Do now
0/3HARDENINGImmediately enforce strong access controls on all WinCC engineering workstations—restrict who can log in and modify projects
HARDENINGIsolate WinCC TIA Portal workstations from general corporate network using air-gapping or dedicated VLAN with strict firewall rules
WORKAROUNDValidate and scan all imported automation project files before loading them into WinCC to detect malicious content
Schedule — requires maintenance window
0/1Patching may require device reboot — plan for process interruption
HARDENINGImplement multi-factor authentication for engineering workstation access where possible
Long-term hardening
0/1HOTFIXPlan migration to a patched version of WinCC (TIA Portal V12 or later) as part of long-term system upgrade strategy
↑↓ Navigate · Esc Close
API:
/api/v1/advisories/d85927cd-48ad-488d-a35a-3e9e885b7785