Schneider Electric RemoteConnect RCE via malicious project file
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Deserialization flaw in RemoteConnect and SCADAPack x70 Utilities allows RCE when authenticated users open malicious project files.
Schneider Electric has disclosed CVE-2024-12703, a CWE-502 deserialization-of-untrusted-data vulnerability in RemoteConnect and SCADAPack x70 Utilities configuration software. The flaw allows a non-admin authenticated user to execute arbitrary code on a workstation by opening a specially crafted malicious project file. RemoteConnect versions prior to R3.4.2 are affected; a fix is available for RemoteConnect but not yet available for Security Administrator (all versions remain affected). The vulnerability poses risk to energy and critical manufacturing sectors worldwide. Mitigations include restricting project file sources to trusted parties, verifying file integrity via hashing, encrypting stored project files, using secure protocols for network file exchange, and implementing network segmentation to isolate control systems from business networks. No public exploitation in the wild is reported in the advisory.
Mentioned in this report
Detection guidance
Schneider RemoteConnect Spawning Shell or Script Interpreter
RemoteConnect configuration software spawning cmd, PowerShell, wscript, mshta or similar, consistent with code execution after a malicious project file is opened (CVE-2024-12703 deserialization). Auto-generated starting point — validate and tune in your environment before deploying. IOC matches can false-positive on shared infrastructure and decay as adversary infrastructure rotates.
title: Schneider RemoteConnect Spawning Shell or Script Interpreter
id: 4e1615f1-48f5-5c58-827f-07e38a6442de
status: experimental
description: Detects Schneider Electric RemoteConnect spawning a shell or script interpreter.
Opening a crafted project file can trigger deserialization of untrusted data (CVE-2024-12703)
and arbitrary code execution in the context of the application. The configuration
software has no normal need to launch these children. The parent match is a path
substring, so tune it to the local install path.
references:
- https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-advisories/icsa-25-028-06
tags:
- attack.execution
- attack.t1204.002
- attack.t1059.001
logsource:
category: process_creation
product: windows
detection:
selection_parent:
ParentImage|contains: \RemoteConnect
selection_child:
Image|endswith:
- \cmd.exe
- \powershell.exe
- \pwsh.exe
- \wscript.exe
- \cscript.exe
- \mshta.exe
- \rundll32.exe
- \regsvr32.exe
- \certutil.exe
- \bitsadmin.exe
condition: selection_parent and selection_child
falsepositives:
- Engineers launching a command prompt from a vendor tool help or diagnostic function
- Vendor installer or updater helper scripts launched from the application
level: medium
author: Vorant
Schneider RemoteConnect Spawning PowerShell With Suspicious Arguments
RemoteConnect spawning PowerShell with encoded, hidden, download or bypass arguments, indicating post-exploitation payload staging after a crafted project file is opened. Auto-generated starting point — validate and tune in your environment before deploying. IOC matches can false-positive on shared infrastructure and decay as adversary infrastructure rotates.
title: Schneider RemoteConnect Spawning PowerShell With Suspicious Arguments
id: b8c2af73-b103-5e4f-a1cb-5c519b07e743
status: experimental
description: Detects RemoteConnect launching PowerShell with encoded commands, hidden
windows, execution policy bypass or download cradles. This is a higher-confidence
subset of shell spawning from the engineering software, as seen in payload staging
after exploitation of a malicious project file (CVE-2024-12703). The parent match
is a path substring, so tune it to the local install path.
references:
- https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-advisories/icsa-25-028-06
tags:
- attack.execution
- attack.t1059.001
- attack.t1204.002
logsource:
category: process_creation
product: windows
detection:
selection_parent:
ParentImage|contains: \RemoteConnect
selection_child:
Image|endswith:
- \powershell.exe
- \pwsh.exe
selection_args:
CommandLine|contains:
- -enc
- -EncodedCommand
- -w hidden
- -WindowStyle hidden
- bypass
- DownloadString
- DownloadFile
- Invoke-WebRequest
- 'iwr '
- IEX
- Net.WebClient
condition: selection_parent and selection_child and selection_args
falsepositives:
- Vendor-provided automation that launches PowerShell with execution policy bypass
from the engineering software
level: high
author: Vorant
Behavioural rules are generated from public reporting — validate in your environment before deploying.
Source reporting: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-advisories/icsa-25-028-06
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