Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed 46 new security flaws in merchandise from three photo voltaic inverter distributors, Sungrow, Growatt, and SMA, that could possibly be exploited by a nasty actor to grab management of units or execute code remotely, posing extreme dangers to electrical grids.
The vulnerabilities have been collectively codenamed SUN:DOWN by Forescout Vedere Labs.
“The brand new vulnerabilities could be exploited to execute arbitrary instructions on units or the seller’s cloud, take over accounts, achieve a foothold within the vendor’s infrastructure, or take management of inverter house owners’ units,” the corporate stated in a report shared with The Hacker Information.
Among the notable flaws recognized are listed beneath –
- Attackers can add .aspx recordsdata that can be executed by the net server of SMA (sunnyportal[.]com), leading to distant code execution
- Unauthenticated attackers can carry out username enumeration by way of the uncovered “server.growatt.com/userCenter.do” endpoint
- Unauthenticated attackers can acquire the checklist of vegetation belonging to different customers in addition to arbitrary units by way of the “server-api.growatt.com/newTwoEicAPI.do” endpoint, leading to gadget takeover
- Unauthenticated attackers can acquire the serial variety of a sensible meter utilizing a sound username by way of the “server-api.growatt.com/newPlantAPI.do” endpoint, leading to account takeover
- Unauthenticated attackers can acquire details about EV chargers, power consumption data, and different delicate knowledge by way of the “evcharge.growatt.com/ocpp” endpoint, in addition to remotely configure EV chargers and procure data associated to firmware, leading to data disclosure and bodily harm
- The Android utility related to Sungrow makes use of an insecure AES key to encrypt shopper knowledge, opening the door to a situation the place an attacker can intercept and decrypt communications between the cellular app and iSolarCloud
- The Android utility related to Sungrow explicitly ignores certificates errors and is weak to adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) assaults
- Sungrow’s WiNet WebUI comprises a hard-coded password that can be utilized to decrypt all firmware updates
- A number of vulnerabilities in Sungrow when dealing with MQTT messages that might end in distant code execution or a denial-of-service (DoS) situation
“An attacker that gained management of a big fleet of Sungrow, Growatt, and SMA inverters utilizing the newly found vulnerabilities might management sufficient energy to trigger instability to those energy grids and different main ones,” Forescout stated.
In a hypothetical assault situation concentrating on Growatt inverters, a menace actor might guess the actual account usernames by way of an uncovered API, hijack the accounts by resetting their passwords to the default “123456,” and carry out follow-on exploitation.
To make issues worse, the hijacked fleet of inverters might then be managed as a botnet to amplify the assault and inflict harm on the grid, resulting in grid disruption and potential blackouts. All of the distributors have since addressed the recognized points following accountable disclosure.
“As attackers can management complete fleets of units with an impression on power manufacturing, they will alter their settings to ship roughly power to the grid at sure occasions,” Forescout stated, including the newly found flaws danger exposing the grid to cyber-physical ransomware assaults.
Daniel dos Santos, Head of Analysis at Forescout Vedere Labs, stated mitigating the dangers requires imposing strict security necessities when procuring photo voltaic gear, conducting common danger assessments, and guaranteeing full community visibility into these units.
The disclosure comes as critical security flaws have been found in manufacturing line monitoring cameras made by Japanese firm Inaba Denki Sangyo that could possibly be exploited for distant surveillance and stop recording manufacturing stoppages.
The vulnerabilities stay unpatched, however the vendor has urged prospects to limit web entry and restrict be sure that such units are put in in a safe, restricted space that is accessible solely to approved personnel.
“These flaws allow varied assaults, permitting an unauthenticated attacker to remotely and secretly entry reside footage for surveillance, or disrupt the recording of manufacturing line stoppages stopping the seize of essential moments,” Nozomi Networks stated.
In current months, the operational expertise (OT) security firm has additionally detailed a number of security defects within the GE Vernova N60 Community Relay, Zettler 130.8005 industrial gateway, and Wago 750-8216/025-001 programmable logic controller (PLC) that could possibly be weaponized by an attacker to take full management of the units.
