CVE-2022-40693
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2022-40693 is a cleartext transmission vulnerability in Moxa SDS-3008 industrial switches that allows attackers to intercept sensitive information like credentials by sniffing network traffic. This affects organizations using these switches in industrial control systems where web management traffic is transmitted without encryption. The vulnerability requires network access to the switch's management interface.
💻 Affected Systems
- Moxa SDS-3008 Series Industrial Ethernet Switch
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers gain administrative credentials, compromise the industrial network, disrupt operations, and potentially pivot to other critical systems.
Likely Case
Attackers capture login credentials or configuration data, enabling unauthorized access to switch management and network reconnaissance.
If Mitigated
With proper network segmentation and encryption, attackers cannot intercept sensitive traffic, limiting impact to isolated network segments.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires network access to sniff traffic; no authentication needed as it's a passive attack.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Check vendor advisory for specific patched versions
Vendor Advisory: https://www.moxa.com/en/support/product-support/security-advisory/sds-3008-series-multiple-web-vulnerabilities
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download firmware update from Moxa support site. 2. Backup current configuration. 3. Apply firmware update via web interface or console. 4. Reboot switch. 5. Verify encryption is enabled for web management.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Enable HTTPS/TLS for web management
allConfigure switch to use HTTPS instead of HTTP for web interface access
Configure via web interface: System > Network > HTTP/HTTPS > Enable HTTPS
Network segmentation
allIsolate switch management traffic to dedicated VLANs with restricted access
Configure VLANs and ACLs on network devices to restrict access to switch management IP
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement network encryption (IPsec/VPN) for all management traffic to/from switches
- Restrict physical and network access to switches, monitor for unauthorized sniffing activity
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if web interface uses HTTP instead of HTTPS by accessing switch IP with http:// and observing lack of encryption in browserCheck Version:
Login to web interface and check System > About > Firmware VersionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify HTTPS is enabled and functional by accessing https://switch-ip and confirming valid certificate📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple failed login attempts from unusual IPs
- Configuration changes from unauthorized users
Network Indicators:
- Unencrypted HTTP traffic to switch management IP on port 80
- ARP spoofing or unusual sniffing activity on switch network
SIEM Query:
source_ip="switch_ip" AND protocol="HTTP" AND NOT protocol="HTTPS"🔗 References
- https://talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2022-1616
- https://www.moxa.com/en/support/product-support/security-advisory/sds-3008-series-multiple-web-vulnerabilities
- https://talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2022-1616
- https://www.moxa.com/en/support/product-support/security-advisory/sds-3008-series-multiple-web-vulnerabilities
- https://www.talosintelligence.com/vulnerability_reports/TALOS-2022-1616
