OTPulse

Hitachi Energy UNEM

Plan PatchCVSS 10ICS-CERT ICSA-25-030-01Jan 30, 2025
Hitachi EnergyEnergyManufacturing
Attack path
Attack VectorNetwork
Auth RequiredNone
ComplexityLow
User InteractionNone needed
Summary

Hitachi Energy UNEM contains multiple critical vulnerabilities in authentication, input validation, SSL/TLS certificate verification, and command handling (CWE-288, CWE-88, CWE-122, CWE-295, CWE-259, CWE-307, CWE-312, CWE-286). Successful exploitation could allow remote code execution, denial of service, unintended command execution, or unauthorized access to sensitive information. Affected versions: UNEM R16B, R16B PC2-PC3, R15B, R15B PC4; older versions (R16A, R15A, pre-R15A) are end-of-life with no remediation planned. R16B PC3 and R15B PC5 (under development) contain fixes for some CVEs. Mitigation: update to patched versions, restrict network access, deny nemadm SSH logins, and implement defense-in-depth network segmentation.

What this means
What could happen
An attacker with network access to UNEM could stop energy or manufacturing operations, alter control commands, steal plant data, or execute arbitrary code on the system. Multiple authentication and validation flaws could allow this without credentials depending on the specific CVE exploited.
Who's at risk
Hitachi Energy UNEM (Unified Network Energy Management) users in energy and manufacturing sectors should prioritize this. Operators running R16B PC2, R15B PC4, R16B, or R15B base versions are exposed. Older versions (R16A, R15A, and pre-R15A) are end-of-life with no fixes available but equally vulnerable.
How it could be exploited
An attacker on the network containing UNEM could send specially crafted requests to exploit weak authentication (CWE-288), input validation (CWE-88, CWE-122), or command injection flaws to bypass access controls and execute commands or read sensitive data. If UNEM is Internet-facing or accessible from untrusted networks, exploitation requires only network connectivity.
Prerequisites
  • Network access to UNEM system
  • No valid credentials required for several CVEs (remote code execution flaws exploit authentication weaknesses)
remotely exploitableno authentication requiredlow complexity attackcritical CVSS 10.0affects energy/manufacturing operationsdefault or weak credentials (nemadm account)affects command injection (control of operations)multiple authentication bypass flaws
Exploitability
Unlikely to be exploited — EPSS score 0.5%
Affected products (7)
2 with fix2 pending3 EOL
ProductAffected VersionsFix Status
UNEM R16BR16BNo fix yet
UNEM R15BR15BNo fix yet
UNEM R16B PC2R16B PC2R16B PC3+ (R16B PC4 recommended)
UNEM R15B PC4R15B PC4R15B PC5 (under development)
UNEM R16AR16ANo fix (EOL)
UNEM R15AR15ANo fix (EOL)
UNEM older than R15A<R15ANo fix (EOL)
Remediation & Mitigation
0/6
Do now
0/1
UNEM R16B
WORKAROUNDFor UNEM R16B and R15B base versions, deny nemadm account SSH logins by adding 'DenyUsers nemadm' to /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Schedule — requires maintenance window
0/2

Patching may require device reboot — plan for process interruption

UNEM R16B
HOTFIXUpdate UNEM R16B PC2 to R16B PC4 or later
UNEM R15B
HOTFIXUpdate UNEM R15B PC4 to R15B PC5 once released
Mitigations - no patch available
0/3
The following products have reached End of Life with no planned fix: UNEM R16A, UNEM R15A, UNEM older than R15A. Apply the following compensating controls:
HARDENINGSegment UNEM systems from the Internet and untrusted networks using firewall rules; expose only necessary ports
HARDENINGIf remote access is required, enforce VPN tunnels to UNEM and ensure VPN is kept current with latest security patches
HARDENINGDisable use of UNEM systems for Internet access, email, or web browsing to reduce attack surface
View full CISA ICS-CERT advisory
API: /api/v1/advisories/e74be3b6-1ce3-404b-944b-f88fa294e2cd

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