PatchSiren cyber security CVE debrief

CVE-2024-46891 Siemens CVE debrief

CVE-2024-46891 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Siemens SINEC INS, published on November 12, 2024. The affected application fails to properly restrict the size of generated log files, allowing an unauthenticated remote attacker to trigger excessive logged events that exhaust system resources and cause a denial of service condition. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 score of 5.3 (Medium) with the vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L/E:P/RL:O/RC:C, indicating network accessibility, low attack complexity, no required privileges or user interaction, and low availability impact. Siemens has released a vendor fix: users should update to V1.0 SP2 Update 3 or later versions. CISA has published this advisory as ICSA-24-319-08, and Siemens has issued security advisory SSA-915275 with additional technical details.

Vendor: Siemens
Product: SINEC INS
CVSS: MEDIUM 5.3
CISA KEV: Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published: 2024-11-12
Original CVE updated: 2024-11-12
Advisory published: 2024-11-12
Advisory updated: 2024-11-12

Who should care

Organizations operating Siemens SINEC INS for industrial network management, particularly in critical infrastructure environments. Security teams responsible for OT/ICS asset protection, system administrators managing SINEC INS deployments, and compliance officers tracking CVE remediation for industrial control systems.

Technical summary

The SINEC INS application does not enforce limits on generated log file sizes. An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by generating a large volume of loggable events, causing log files to consume excessive disk space and system resources, resulting in denial of service. The attack requires no authentication, privileges, or user interaction, and can be conducted over the network.

Defensive priority

medium

Recommended defensive actions

Update Siemens SINEC INS to V1.0 SP2 Update 3 or later version to remediate this vulnerability
Monitor system resource utilization and log file growth rates for signs of potential exploitation
Implement network segmentation to limit exposure of SINEC INS management interfaces to untrusted networks
Apply defense-in-depth strategies for industrial control systems as recommended by CISA
Review and configure log rotation policies to prevent uncontrolled log file growth
Consider implementing rate limiting on logging endpoints where technically feasible

Evidence notes

Vulnerability description and remediation details sourced from CISA CSAF advisory ICSA-24-319-08 and Siemens security advisory SSA-915275. CVSS vector and remediation information confirmed through official vendor and government advisory sources.

Official resources

2024-11-12