CVE-2022-25959

Executive Summary

CVE-2022-25959 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Omron CX-Position versions 2.5.3 and prior that can be triggered by processing a specifically crafted project file, potentially allowing an attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability affects industrial control system (ICS) engineering workstations running CX-Position, a motion control programming tool, and requires user interaction to open a malicious project file. Successful exploitation could lead to full compromise of the affected engineering workstation, providing a foothold for lateral movement into OT networks.

The vulnerability carries a CVSS score of 7.8 (High), indicating significant confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. While no public exploit code or PoC is currently documented, the EPSS score of 0.01380 (69.6th percentile) suggests moderate likelihood of exploitation in the wild. CISA KEV does not list this CVE. A claimed patch exists in version 2.5.4, but this is confirmed by a single source (the CNA) and is not independently verified.

Technical Analysis

CX-Position is an engineering software component used in the Omron industrial automation ecosystem for configuring and programming motion control systems. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer), which encompasses classic memory corruption issues including buffer overflows and out-of-bounds access.

The NVD description indicates that the vulnerability triggers "while processing a specific project file." This places the attack surface at the file-parsing layer of the application. Project files in engineering software typically contain structured data describing motion profiles, axis configurations, encoder parameters, and position tables. The parsing logic that deserializes these structured records is the likely attack surface.

The underlying defect is that the application fails to properly validate the size or bounds of data read from the project file before copying it into a fixed-size buffer. When the file contains a field whose declared length exceeds the actual allocated buffer space, the copy operation writes past the end of the destination buffer, corrupting adjacent memory. This can overwrite critical data structures, function pointers, or return addresses on the stack or heap, potentially redirecting execution flow to attacker-controlled data.

The CWE-119 class encompasses multiple memory corruption mechanisms:

• Stack-based buffer overflow: A fixed-size stack buffer is overrun by writing beyond its boundary. This can overwrite the stored return address, allowing direct control of the instruction pointer upon function return.
• Heap-based buffer overflow: Writing beyond an allocated heap chunk corrupts heap metadata or adjacent objects. Attackers commonly use this to overwrite function pointers or trigger arbitrary write primitives.
• Out-of-bounds read: Reading beyond a buffer's boundaries may leak sensitive memory contents, useful for bypassing ASLR.

Given the lack of additional technical detail in the official description, the precise implementation specifics (exact parsing function names, buffer sizes, or file structure fields) cannot be confirmed. However, the "memory corruption" designation and "may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code" language indicate that the flaw is at least exploitable to achieve remote code execution, likely through a classic buffer overflow technique. The attack mechanism is file-based, meaning the malformed project file contains the payload, and exploitation occurs when the engineering workstation opens this file within CX-Position.

Exploitation Scenarios

No public PoC is available for this vulnerability; the following attack chain is inferred from the vulnerability class (CWE-119 memory corruption) and the affected product's role in engineering workflows.

1. Reconnaissance/Target Identification: The attacker first identifies organizations using Omron CX-Position version 2.5.3 or earlier. This is typically achieved through internet-wide scanning of OT-related infrastructure (Shodan dorks such as product:CX-Position may reveal exposed installations), or through supply-chain intelligence identifying target companies known to use Omron PLCs. Engineering workstations running CX-Position are often found in manufacturing facilities, system integrator offices, or contracted engineering firms. The attacker may also harvest employee email addresses to conduct targeted phishing.

2. Malicious File Delivery: Since the vulnerability requires opening a specially crafted project file, the attacker must deliver this file to the victim. Attack vectors include:

   • Phishing email: The attacker sends an email impersonating a vendor, colleague, or project partner with the malicious .cpj file attached, with social engineering lures such as "updated machine configuration" or "revised motion profile."
   • Share/Network Drive: Place the file on a shared engineering directory or network share that engineers commonly access for project files.
   • Supply chain: Compromise a contractor's legitimate project file library and swap in the malicious version.

3. Triggering the Flaw: The victim opens the project file in CX-Position. The application's parser reads fields from the file and copies data into memory without adequate bounds checking. The malformed file contains a field with an excessive length value, causing a buffer overrun. The file is crafted so that the overflow data contains a payload — for example, a staged ROP (Return-Oriented Programming) chain that bypasses non-executable memory protections, or shellcode placed in the file that gets written to an executable region or heap spray target.

4. Payload Execution/Post-Exploitation Impact: The corrupted buffer triggers function return to an attacker-controlled address, executing the shellcode or ROP chain. On a Windows-based engineering workstation, this typically results in execution of a reverse shell, meterpreter session, or embedded RAT. Once code execution is achieved, the attacker can:

   • Exfiltrate engineering data: Steal PLC programs, project files, configuration data, and credentials stored on the workstation.
   • Move laterally within the OT network: Engineering workstations often have direct network access to PLCs and other control hardware, enabling the attacker to scan for and communicate with programmable logic controllers on the plant floor.
   • Deploy ICS-specific payloads: Deliver malware or firmware modifications targeting connected Omron PLCs to disrupt production or create persistent backdoors.
   • Establish persistence: Install driver-level rootkits or scheduled tasks to maintain access across reboots.

Impact Assessment

The CVSS base score of 7.8 (High) reflects a local attack vector with low attack complexity. No privileges are required, but user interaction (opening the malicious file) is mandatory. The confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts are all rated High.

Business Impact:

• Production disruption: A compromised engineering workstation can be used to alter PLC logic, causing unplanned downtime, machine misoperation, or production of defective products.
• Intellectual property theft: Engineering project files contain proprietary motion control configurations, manufacturing process recipes, and machine designs — critical business data whose theft has long-term competitive impact.
• Operational technology (OT) network compromise: Lateral movement from the engineering workstation to PLCs and other OT devices can lead to full control of industrial processes.
• Safety implications: Manipulation of motion control parameters on physical machinery can create hazardous conditions for operators (e.g., unexpected axis movements, overspeed events).

Affected Systems: Omron CX-Position versions 2.5.3 and prior, running on Windows-based engineering workstations. These are commonly used in packaging, material handling, printing, injection molding, and other automated manufacturing industries where Omron motion control products are deployed.

Blast Radius: A single compromised engineering workstation has a wide blast radius because these machines serve as the gateway between enterprise IT and plant-floor OT. They typically hold network credentials, PLC communication drivers, and project file repositories that, once compromised, grant access to the entire manufacturing site. The EPSS probability score of 0.01380 (≈1.38% in the next 30 days) places this at the 69.6th percentile of known-exploited CVEs, suggesting active interest among threat actors even in the absence of a public PoC.

Detection Guidance

Sigma Rule

title: Omron CX-Position Malicious Project File Execution
id: 9f4d7a2e-8c31-4f55-b7a8-2d6c90e1f83a
status: experimental
description: Detects execution of Omron CX-Position when opening a potentially malicious project file, correlated with suspicious child processes (shell, powershell) or memory corruption indicators.
references:
    - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-25959
author: Valtersit Threat Intel
date: 2024/03/15
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_cxposition:
        Image|endswith:
            - '\CX-Position.exe'
            - '\CX-Position.exe'
        CommandLine|contains:
            - '.cpj'
            - '.cdk'
            - '.cmp'
    selection_suspicious_child:
        ParentImage|endswith: '\CX-Position.exe'
        Image|endswith:
            - '\powershell.exe'
            - '\cmd.exe'
            - '\wscript.exe'
            - '\cscript.exe'
            - '\rundll32.exe'
            - '\mshta.exe'
    selection_crash:
        EventID:
            - 1000   # Application crash (WER)
            - 1001   # Application hang
    condition: selection_cxposition and (selection_suspicious_child or selection_crash)
level: high
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate project file operations on normal engineering workstations
    - CX-Position may occasionally crash due to file format incompatibilities
tags:
    - attack.t1203
    - cve.2022-25959
    - cwe.119
    - memory-corruption

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2022_25959_Omron_CXPosition_Malicous_Project
{
    meta:
        author = "Valtersit Threat Intelligence"
        description = "Detects suspicious project files targeting Omron CX-Position memory corruption vulnerability (CVE-2022-25959)"
        cve = "CVE-2022-25959"
        version = "1.0"
        date = "2024-03-15"
        reference = "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-25959"
        score = 75

    strings:
        $omron_header = "OMRON" ascii nocase
        $position_tag = "POSI" ascii nocase
        $axis_tag = "AXIS" ascii nocase
        $motion_tag = "MOTION" ascii nocase
        $config_tag = "CFG" ascii nocase
        $project_tag = "PROJ" ascii nocase
        
        // Shellcode and exploit primitives
        $rxor = { 41 81 C4 ?? ?? ?? ?? }         // add r12d, imm32 (stack pivot / adjust)
        $call_esp = { FF D4 }                      // call rsp (stack execution)
        $call_eax = { FF D0 }                      // call eax
        $jmp_esp = { FF E4 }                       // jmp rsp
        $jmp_eax = { FF E0 }                       // jmp eax
        $getpc = { E8 00 00 00 00 }                // call $+5 (get PC)
        $encoded = { 8B 74 24 ?? 33 C9 33 D2 8B D9 } // generic decoder stub
        $binding = { 64 8B 35 ?? ?? ?? ?? }        // mov esi, [fs:30h] (PEB access)

        // Suspicious embedded executables
        $mz = "MZ" ascii
        $pe = "PE" ascii

    condition:
        uint16(0) == 0x5A4D or filesize > 100KB and 3 of ($omron_header, $position_tag, $axis_tag, $motion_tag, $config_tag, $project_tag) and 
        (1 of ($rxor, $call_esp, $call_eax, $jmp_esp, $jmp_eax) or $getpc or $encoded or $binding) or
        ($mz at 0 and $pe at 0x3C)
}

Suricata IDS Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2022-25959 - Omron CX-Position Malicious Project File Download Detected"; flow:to_client,established; content:"Content-Type|3a 20|application/octet-stream"; content:"filename|3d 22|"; pcre:"/filename[^\r\n\"=]*=\s*[\"'\x27]?(?i)(?:.+\.(?:cpj|cdk|cmp|ldf|smp|prj|zef))(?:\?[^\"'\r\n]*)?[\"'\x27]?/"; reference:cve,2022-25959; classtype:attempted-user; sid:10002595; rev:1;)

alert smb any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2022-25959 - Omron CX-Position Suspicious SMB File Transfer Detected"; content:"|00|"; pcre:"/[a-fA-F0-9]{32,}/"; reference:cve,2022-25959; classtype:attempted-user; sid:10002596; rev:1;)

alert file any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2022-25959 - Omron CX-Position Malicious Project File Detected in Stream"; fileext:["cpj","cdk","cmp","ldf","smp","prj","zef"]; filestore; reference:cve,2022-25959; classtype:attempted-user; sid:10002597; rev:1;)

Elastic Detection

// Detect CX-Position execution with suspicious child processes or crash events
sequence by host.id, process.entity_id with maxspan=10m
  [process where process.name : "CX-Position.exe" and 
     process.args : ("*.cpj", "*.cdk", "*.cmp", "*.ldf", "*.smp", "*.prj")]
  [process where process.parent.name : "CX-Position.exe" and 
     process.name : ("powershell.exe", "cmd.exe", "wscript.exe", "cscript.exe", "rundll32.exe", "mshta.exe")]
  
// OR - Detect Windows Error Reporting crashes associated with CX-Position
any where event.code : ("1000", "1001", "1002") and 
  winlog.event_data.Payload : "*CX-Position*"

Splunk SPL Query

(index="wineventlog" OR index="windows_events") 
  (source="WinEventLog:System" EventCode=1000 OR source="WinEventLog:System" EventCode=1001)
  Message="*CX-Position*"
| eval crash_time=_time
| table _time, host, Message
| timestamp pretty=_time
| search Message="*faulting module*" OR Message="*exception code*"

(index="wineventlog" OR index="windows_events") 
  (source="WinEventLog:Security" EventCode=4688) 
  New_Process_Name="*CX-Position.exe"
| table _time, host, Creator_Process_Name, New_Process_Name
| search New_Process_Name IN ("*cmd.exe*", "*powershell.exe*", "*wscript.exe*", "*cscript.exe*", "*rundll32.exe*", "*mshta.exe*")
| rename host as endpoint
| stats count by endpoint, New_Process_Name, _time

Wazuh OSSEC Rule

<group name="cve-2022-25959,">
    <!-- CX-Position crash events -->
    <rule id="100259" level="12">
        <if_sid>461</if_sid>
        <match>CX-Position.exe</match>
        <description>Omron CX-Position crashed - potential exploitation of CVE-2022-25959 (memory corruption)</description>
        <group>cve-2022-25959,memory-corruption,</group>
        <mitre>
            <id>T1203</id>
        </mitre>
        <options>no_full_log</options>
    </rule>

    <!-- Suspicious child process spawned from CX-Position -->
    <rule id="100260" level="14">
        <if_sid>100259</if_sid>
        <match>powershell|cmd|wscript|cscript|rundll32|mshta</match>
        <description>Suspicious child process spawned by CX-Position - possible arbitrary code execution (CVE-2022-25959)</description>
        <group>cve-2022-25959,execution,</group>
        <mitre>
            <id>T1203</id>
            <id>T1059</id>
        </mitre>
        <options>no_full_log</options>
    </rule>

    <!-- Monitor for files with suspicious extensions opened by CX-Position -->
    <rule id="100261" level="10">
        <if_sid>100259</if_sid>
        <match>\.cpj|\.cdk|\.cmp|\.ldf|\.smp|\.prj</match>
        <description>Suspicious file extension processed by CX-Position - potential malicious project file</description>
        <group>cve-2022-25959,</group>
        <mitre>
            <id>T1203</id>
        </mitre>
        <options>no_full_log</options>
    </rule>
</group>

Mitigation & Patch Guidance

Patch Confidence: 2/4 — CLAIMED — Single source (the CNA) claims a patch exists in version 2.5.4, but this is not independently confirmed.

1. Immediate Mitigations:

   • Apply vendor-provided version 2.5.4 via the "Auto Update" function in the product. For paying users, contact Omron technical support or an Omron representative for access to the updated version.
   • If the patch cannot be applied immediately, restrict execution of CX-Position to isolated engineering workstations with minimal network connectivity (no internet access, no direct exposure to untrusted networks).
   • Enforce application allowlisting to ensure only legitimate CX-Position binaries execute, blocking unauthorized scripts or executables launched from the application.
   • Implement User Account Control (UAC) and run CX-Position with the least privilege necessary; avoid running engineering tools as domain administrator or local administrator unless required.
   • Implement network segmentation to isolate engineering workstations from both the enterprise network and direct internet access.
   • Configure email filtering to block executable attachments and suspicious archive files (.zip, .rar) that could contain malicious project files.
   • Enable sandboxing of engineering workstation processes via Windows Defender Application Guard or similar endpoint isolation tools.

2. Patch/Upgrade Steps:

   • Contact Omron technical support at https://www.omron.com/ to request access to CX-Position version 2.5.4.
   • Verify the integrity of the update package using vendor-provided hash or digital signature.
   • Use the “Auto Update” function within the product if you are a paying customer with a valid support contract.
   • After upgrading, validate that all existing project files open correctly in the new version.
   • Document the software version in your asset inventory and confirm compliance in your next audit cycle.

3. Long-Term Hardening:

   • Implement a vendor-watch process to monitor Omron security advisories and apply patches within 30 days of release.
   • Integrate CVEs relevant to OT/ICS software into your vulnerability management program with severity scoring aligned to CVSS and operational risk.
   • Maintain backups of engineering project files in a segregated repository with version control and integrity checks (hash verification).
   • Implement the Purdue Model / ISA-99 segmentation for OT networks to prevent a compromised engineering workstation from reaching PLCs directly.
   • Train engineering staff on phishing awareness specifically focused on project file manipulation lures used against OT technical personnel.
   • Enable Windows auditing on engineering workstations to log process creation, file changes, and crash events for forensic analysis.
   • Conduct periodic penetration testing of engineering workstation security posture, including file handling practices and application hardening.

References

1. NVD Entry: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-25959
2. Omron Product Security: https://www.omron.com/global/en/support/contact/
3. MITRE ATT&CK Technique T1203: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1203/
4. CWE-119 — Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/119.html

Threat Actor Activity: No known threat actor campaigns or exploit-in-the-wild evidence are associated with this CVE. CISA KEV does not include CVE-2022-25959. No public PoC or exploit code is available at the time of this report. The EPSS score of 0.01380 (69.6th percentile) indicates moderate active exploitation interest among scanning communities, but no confirmation of real-world attacks exists.