MediumCVE-2023-46144

PHOENIX CONTACT: PLCnext Control prone to download of code without integrity check (CVE-2023-46144)

Published 14.12.2023Sources: CVE.org

What is affected, what to do

A download of code without integrity check vulnerability in PLCnext products allows an remote attacker with low privileges to compromise integrity on the affected engineering station and the connected devices.

The available sources name no fixed version. Check the vendor guidance in the references below.

Affected: PHOENIX CONTACT AXC F 1152 lte *..2024.0
PHOENIX CONTACT AXC F 2152 lte *..2024.0
PHOENIX CONTACT AXC F 3152 lte *..2024.0
PHOENIX CONTACT BPC 9102S lte *..2024.0
PHOENIX CONTACT EPC 1502 lte *..2024.0
PHOENIX CONTACT EPC 1522 lte *..2024.0
PHOENIX CONTACT PLCnext Engineer lte *..2024.0
PHOENIX CONTACT RFC 4072R lte *..2024.0
PHOENIX CONTACT RFC 4072S lte *..2024.0

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Metrics

6.5

Priority

XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

Source: Vendor (CNA), CVSS v3

6.5

CVSS v3

Severity Medium on the scale from 0 to 10.

Source: CVE.org

0.3 %

EPSS score

Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 23.9

Show all metrics

Severity: Medium
Priority (0–325) The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first? Read in glossary: 41.06 Methodology
Exploit maturity An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack. Read in glossary: no public PoC known
XIEM Effective CVSS XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command. Read in glossary: 6.5 Methodology
CVSS v3 CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions. Read in glossary: 6.5
EPSS score The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“. Read in glossary: 0.3 %; Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
EPSS percentile The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking. Read in glossary: 23.9; Elevated — this CVE ranks above at least 10% of all CVEs scored today.
KEV status The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching. Read in glossary: —
Published: 14.12.2023
CWE CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect. Read in glossary: CWE-494

Detection rules

No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

Classification under NIS2 and CRA

Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

NIS2 NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management. Read in glossary: Handle the vulnerability in regular vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2.
CRA The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates. Read in glossary: From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
ISO/IEC 27001 ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security. Read in glossary: Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

Description

Source: NVD (NIST), cvelistv5

Affected products

The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

Affected products
		Affected versions	Fixed in
PHOENIX CONTACT	AXC F 1152	`≤ 2024.0`	—
PHOENIX CONTACT	AXC F 2152	`≤ 2024.0`	—
PHOENIX CONTACT	AXC F 3152	`≤ 2024.0`	—
PHOENIX CONTACT	BPC 9102S	`≤ 2024.0`	—
PHOENIX CONTACT	EPC 1502	`≤ 2024.0`	—
PHOENIX CONTACT	EPC 1522	`≤ 2024.0`	—
PHOENIX CONTACT	PLCnext Engineer	`≤ 2024.0`	—
PHOENIX CONTACT	RFC 4072R	`≤ 2024.0`	—
PHOENIX CONTACT	RFC 4072S	`≤ 2024.0`	—
phoenixcontact	plcnext_engineer	`≤ 2024.0`	—

Vendors and products

Affected operating systems

Affected operating systems

Other	phoenixcontact	axc_f_1152_firmware	—
Other	phoenixcontact	axc_f_2152_firmware	—
Other	phoenixcontact	axc_f_3152_firmware	—
Other	phoenixcontact	bpc_9102s_firmware	—
Other	phoenixcontact	epc_1502_firmware	—
Other	phoenixcontact	epc_1522_firmware	—
Other	phoenixcontact	rfc_4072r_firmware	—
Other	phoenixcontact	rfc_4072s_firmware	—

Weakness classes (CWE)

CWE-494Download of Code Without Integrity Check
Base
The product downloads source code or an executable from a remote location and executes the code without sufficiently verifying the origin and integrity of the code.
Entry at MITRE CWE-494

References & sources

httpscert.vde.com/en/advisories/VDE-2023-056Broken link

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<a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2023-46144"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2023-46144.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2023-46144 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>