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Rockwell Automation Allen-Bradley Stratix 5950

Act Now8.6ICS-CERT ICSA-18-184-01Jul 3, 2018
Attack VectorNetwork
Auth RequiredNone
ComplexityLow
User InteractionNone needed
Summary

The Stratix 5950 industrial switch contains certificate validation bypass and denial-of-service vulnerabilities. An attacker can bypass client certificate checks to establish unauthorized connections to the device, or cause it to crash by exceeding its connection handling limits. The issues stem from improper input validation (CWE-20), incomplete certificate verification (CWE-295), and inadequate resource management (CWE-841). Rockwell Automation has not released firmware patches; the company is still developing corrections and will notify users when available. The underlying issues are embedded in the switch's firmware and cannot be patched by configuration changes alone.

What this means
What could happen
An attacker with network access to a Stratix 5950 switch could bypass certificate validation and establish unauthorized connections, or remotely crash the device, disrupting network connectivity to critical control system equipment.
Who's at risk
Water utilities and municipal electric providers using Stratix 5950 switches (part of Rockwell Automation's FactoryTalk or control network infrastructure) to manage network connectivity for PLCs, remote I/O, and safety systems. This switch is commonly deployed as a layer 2/3 backbone for plant networks in substations and water treatment facilities.
How it could be exploited
An attacker on the network sends specially crafted connection requests to the Stratix 5950 switch on its management port. The device fails to properly validate client certificates, allowing the attacker to either establish unauthorized management connections or send repeated requests that exhaust the device's connection handling capacity, causing it to crash.
Prerequisites
  • Network access to the Stratix 5950 management interface
  • Device must be connected to a network reachable from the attacker's position
  • No valid credentials or authentication required
remotely exploitableno authentication requiredlow complexityactively exploited (KEV)high EPSS score (94.4%)no patch availableaffects network critical infrastructure
Exploitability
Actively exploited — confirmed by CISA KEV
Affected products (4)
4 pending
ProductAffected VersionsFix Status
Allen-Bradley Stratix 5950: 1783-SAD4T0SBK91783-SAD4T0SBK9No fix yet
Allen-Bradley Stratix 5950: 1783-SAD2T2SPK91783-SAD2T2SPK9No fix yet
Allen-Bradley Stratix 5950: 1783-SAD4T0SPK91783-SAD4T0SPK9No fix yet
Allen-Bradley Stratix 5950: 1783-SAD2T2SBK91783-SAD2T2SBK9No fix yet
Remediation & Mitigation
0/4
Do now
0/3
HARDENINGIsolate Stratix 5950 switches from direct Internet exposure; place behind firewalls and segment from business network
HARDENINGImplement network access controls to restrict which systems can reach the switch management port
WORKAROUNDMonitor Stratix 5950 for certificate validation errors and unexplained crashes
Schedule — requires maintenance window
0/1

Patching may require device reboot — plan for process interruption

HOTFIXApply firmware updates as soon as Rockwell Automation releases them
View full CISA ICS-CERT advisory
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Rockwell Automation Allen-Bradley Stratix 5950 | CVSS 8.6 - OTPulse