# CVE-2023-48363: Null dereference in OpenPCS 7 V9.1

> Attackers can cause denial of service in Siemens SCADA RPC servers by sending malformed RPC messages, impacting industrial control operations.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:A/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 13 Feb 2024
- **Updated:** 10 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-q3m2-hxcv-vxp6

## What is CVE-2023-48363?

CVE-2023-48363 is a high-severity vulnerability in Siemens OpenPCS 7 V9.1, published on 13 Feb 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability has been identified in OpenPCS 7 V9.1 (All versions < V9.1 SP2 UC05), SIMATIC BATCH V9.1 (All versions < V9.1 SP2 UC05), SIMATIC PCS 7 V9.1 (All versions < V9.1 SP2 UC05), SIMATIC Route Control V9.1 (All versions < V9.1 SP2 UC05), SIMATIC WinCC Runtime Professional V18 (All versions < V18 Update 4), SIMATIC WinCC Runtime Professional V19 (All versions < V19 Update 2), SIMATIC WinCC V7.4 (All versions), SIMATIC WinCC V7.5 (All versions < V7.5 SP2 Update 15), SIMATIC WinCC V8.0 (All versions < V8.0 Update 4). The implementation of the RPC (Remote Procedure call) 
communication protocol in the affected products do not 
properly handle certain unorganized RPC messages. An 
attacker could use this vulnerability to cause a denial of service 
condition in the RPC server.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-48363?

It affects 6 products.


Products: Siemens Openpcs 7, Siemens Simatic Batch, Siemens Simatic Pcs 7, Siemens Simatic Route Control, Siemens Simatic Wincc, Siemens Simatic Wincc Runtime Professional.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-48363?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-48363 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-48363 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-48363 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Siemens OpenPCS 7 V9.1

- [CVE-2019-19282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-19282/): Denial of service in OpenPCS 7 V8.1 (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2018-4832](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-4832/): Denial of service in OpenPCS 7 V7.1 and earlier (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2023-48364](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-48364/): Null dereference in OpenPCS 7 V9.1 (high 7.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-48363 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-48363 is a high-severity vulnerability in Siemens OpenPCS 7 V9.1, published on 13 Feb 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-48363 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Siemens OpenPCS 7 V9.1. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-48363/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-48363/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-48363
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-48363
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-48363

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-48363/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.