CVE-2021-44522
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote attackers to subscribe to arbitrary message broker queues in Siemens SiPass and Siveillance Identity systems. This could enable eavesdropping on internal communications, potentially exposing sensitive data. Affected systems include SiPass integrated V2.76, V2.80, V2.85 and Siveillance Identity V1.5, V1.6.
💻 Affected Systems
- SiPass integrated
- Siveillance Identity
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could intercept sensitive system communications, authentication data, or operational commands, potentially leading to full system compromise or data exfiltration.
Likely Case
Unauthorized access to internal message queues allowing monitoring of system events, potentially exposing operational data or facilitating further attacks.
If Mitigated
Limited exposure with proper network segmentation and access controls preventing external access to vulnerable components.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires network access to the message broker system but no authentication. No public exploit code identified.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Siveillance Identity V1.6.284.0 or later; SiPass integrated updates available through Siemens support
Vendor Advisory: https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-463116.pdf
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download latest version from Siemens support portal. 2. Backup current installation. 3. Apply update following vendor documentation. 4. Restart affected services. 5. Verify update successful.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Segmentation
linuxRestrict network access to message broker ports to trusted systems only
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-rich-rule='rule family="ipv4" source address="TRUSTED_IP" port protocol="tcp" port="MESSAGE_BROKER_PORT" accept'
firewall-cmd --reload
Windows Firewall Rule
windowsBlock external access to message broker service
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Block Message Broker" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort MESSAGE_BROKER_PORT -Action Block
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation to isolate vulnerable systems from untrusted networks
- Deploy network monitoring and intrusion detection systems to detect unauthorized access attempts
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check system version against affected versions list. Attempt to connect to message broker service from untrusted network without authentication.Check Version:
Check application version in system settings or via vendor-specific commandsVerify Fix Applied:
Verify installed version is patched (V1.6.284.0 or later for Siveillance Identity). Test that unauthenticated connections to message broker are rejected.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unauthorized connection attempts to message broker service
- Unexpected subscription requests to message queues
- Failed authentication attempts to internal services
Network Indicators:
- External connections to message broker ports (typically 61613, 61614, 61616 for STOMP/AMQP)
- Unusual subscription patterns to system queues
SIEM Query:
source_ip NOT IN (trusted_networks) AND dest_port IN (61613, 61614, 61616) AND protocol IN ("STOMP", "AMQP")