Widely Used Telit Cinterion Modems Open to SMS Takeover Attacks
Security Officer Comments:
Summary:
Security researchers at Kaspersky's ICS CERT division revealed a series of eight vulnerabilities, including CVE-2023-47610 through CVE-2023-47616, in Telit Cinterion cellular modems, prevalent across industrial, healthcare, and telecommunications sectors. The most severe flaw, CVE-2023-47610, enables remote code execution via SMS, granting attackers unauthorized access to the modem's operating system without authentication. This heap overflow issue affects the modem's User Plane Location (SUPL) message handlers. Despite a severity score of 8.8 from Kaspersky and 9.8 from NIST, indicating critical impact, some vulnerabilities remain unpatched.
Although the research targeted the Cinterion EHS5-E series modem, because other products from the vendor have similar software and hardware architecture additional variants are also impacted:
"Exploiting these flaws could compromise MIDlet integrity, posing threats to data confidentiality, network security, and device integrity. While Telit has addressed some vulnerabilities, others persist, underscoring the potential for global disruption due to the modems' widespread deployment (Kaspersky, 2023).”
The most severe vulnerability (CVE-2023-47610) allows attackers to execute arbitrary code remotely via SMS, providing unauthorized access to the modem's operating system. This could lead to a complete compromise of the device, enabling attackers to control its functionalities without authentication.
Suggested Corrections:
Given the widespread impact of the vulnerabilities across different hardware models and software configurations, it's imperative for companies to implement robust asset management practices. This involves maintaining an accurate inventory of all devices utilizing Telit Cinterion modems and the corresponding software versions installed on them. By closely tracking hardware models and software configurations, organizations can effectively assess their exposure to the identified vulnerabilities and prioritize remediation efforts accordingly.
Additionally, Kaspersky recommends collaborating with telecom operators to mitigate risks, including disabling SMS to affected devices, implementing secure private APNs, enforcing application signature verification, and securing physical access to devices, (Kaspersky, 2023).”
Link(s):
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...interion-modems-open-to-sms-takeover-attacks/ https://ics-cert.kaspersky.com/vulnerabilities/