An exploitable insufficient resource pool vulnerability exists in the session communication functionality of Allen Bradley Micrologix 1400 Series B Firmware 21.2 and before. A specially crafted stream of packets can cause a flood of the session resource pool resulting in legitimate connections to the PLC being disconnected. An attacker can send unauthenticated packets to trigger this vulnerability.
The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Micrologix_1400_b_firmware | Rockwellautomation | * | 21.2 (including) |
Mitigation of resource exhaustion attacks requires that the target system either:
The first of these solutions is an issue in itself though, since it may allow attackers to prevent the use of the system by a particular valid user. If the attacker impersonates the valid user, they may be able to prevent the user from accessing the server in question.
The second solution is simply difficult to effectively institute – and even when properly done, it does not provide a full solution. It simply makes the attack require more resources on the part of the attacker.