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PHOENIX CONTACT: Security Advisory for ILC1x1 Industrial controllers

Monitor7.5VDE-2021-019Jun 23, 2021
Attack VectorNetwork
Auth RequiredNone
ComplexityLow
User InteractionNone needed
Summary

Phoenix Contact ILC1x0 and ILC1x1 industrial controllers lack authentication mechanisms and are vulnerable to denial of service attacks via specially crafted IP packets. An attacker can craft packets that exhaust network module resources (CWE-770), rendering the controller unable to communicate over the network. These devices are designed for closed industrial networks and do not support firmware updates to fix this flaw.

What this means
What could happen
An attacker on your network can flood the ILC1x0 or ILC1x1 controllers with specially crafted IP packets, causing the network communication module to fail and stopping the PLC from receiving commands or sending status updates. This could halt critical manufacturing processes until the device is rebooted.
Who's at risk
Manufacturing facilities and industrial plants operating Phoenix Contact ILC1x0 or ILC1x1 controllers. These are used in production automation, process control, and machine control applications where network communication is required. Any facility with these controllers exposed to untrusted networks is at risk.
How it could be exploited
An attacker with network access to the controller sends specially crafted IP packets that trigger a resource exhaustion flaw in the network module. The module becomes unresponsive, cutting off all network communication to the device.
Prerequisites
  • Network reachability to the ILC controller on its operational network
  • No authentication required
remotely exploitableno authentication requiredlow complexityno patch availabledenial of service against critical control logic
Affected products (2)
2 EOL
ProductAffected VersionsFix Status
Hardware ILC1x0All versionsNo fix (EOL)
Hardware ILC1x1All versionsNo fix (EOL)
Remediation & Mitigation
0/4
Do now
0/2
HARDENINGIsolate ILC1x0 and ILC1x1 controllers on a closed manufacturing network segment with no connection to corporate IT, remote access networks, or untrusted sources
HARDENINGDeploy a firewall or network security device between the ILC controllers and any external network connections; configure rules to block suspicious IP packets and rate-limit traffic to the controller
Schedule — requires maintenance window
0/1

Patching may require device reboot — plan for process interruption

HARDENINGMonitor network traffic to the ILC controllers for unusual patterns or packet floods; configure alerts on network statistics
Mitigations - no patch available
0/1
The following products have reached End of Life with no planned fix: Hardware ILC1x0, Hardware ILC1x1. Apply the following compensating controls:
HARDENINGDocument the network topology and restrict physical and logical access to the plant network segments containing these controllers
View full CERT@VDE advisory
API: /api/v1/advisories/7e2616ad-3ef3-4ccb-aa3d-ce0395f52060
PHOENIX CONTACT: Security Advisory for ILC1x1 Industrial controllers | CVSS 7.5 - OTPulse