Software Engineering Institute

Citect CitectSCADA is software used for monitoring and control in Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the CitectSCADA ODBC service. The ODBC Server listens on the network (20222/tcp) for service requests from clients. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending specially crafted packets to a vulnerable CitectSCADA system. According to Core Security Technologies Advisory:

Due to a lack of a proper length checking of the read data, a memory copy operation that uses as destination a buffer of fixed size allocated in the stack can be overflowed allowing an un-authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable systems.

A remote, unauthenticated attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service.

Apply a patch

Supported Citect customers should contact Citect to receive a patch. For more information on contacting Citect visit http://www.citect.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1374&Itemid=223.

Restrict access

Restricting access to a vulnerable system by using host or network based firewalls may prevent a remote attacker from exploiting this vulnerability. For more information refer to Citect security article Securing Your SCADA Network.

Restricting access may result in loss of ODBC Server connectivity. According to Core Security Technologies Advisory:

The vulnerability is located in the ODBC server service, vulnerable organizations that do not require ODBC connectivity may disable the service with no adverse effects to the CitectSCADA software. Installations that require ODBC connectivity to SQL databases, spreadsheets, etc. will suffer loss of connection with ODBC data sources if this workaround is applied. Vulnerable organizations should obtain positive verification that ODBC connectivity is not necessary in their installation and prepare appropriate contingency procedures before the workaround is applied.