Chinese SCADA software vulnerable

ISS Source reports that attackers could remotely exploit two vulnerabilities found in industrial control system software made in China but used worldwide.

Gregory Hale, ISS Source

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The vulnerabilities are in two products from Sunway ForceControl Technology, a Beijing-based company that develops SCADA software for the defense, petrochemical, energy, water and manufacturing industries, said the U.S. Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT).

Sunway’s products mainly see use in China but also in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa, according to ICS-CERT.

The problems could cause a denial of service issue or remote code exploitation in Sunway’s ForceControl 6.1 WebServer and its pNetPower AngelServer products. Dillon Beresford, who works for the security testing company NSS Labs, found the issues.

Sunway issued patches for the vulnerabilities May 20. ICS-CERT said there are no known exploits for the vulnerabilities, but computer security experts generally recommend patching software as soon as possible.

ICS-CERT added it’s unlikely someone could create consistent exploit code for the two vulnerabilities, and an attacker would need to have “intermediate” skills to exploit the problems.

SCADA software has come under increasing attention from security researchers, as the software has often not undergone rigorous security audits despite its use to manage critical infrastructure or manufacturing processes.