CVE-2021-22681

Rockwell Automation Logix Controllers Insufficient Credential Protection (CVE-2021-22681)

CVE-2021-22681 is an insufficient protection of credentials vulnerability (CWE-522) affecting Rockwell Automation multiple products including Logix controllers. An attacker can intercept or obtain weakly protected credentials used to authenticate with Logix controllers, enabling authentication bypass. This vulnerability is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog and poses critical risk in OT/ICS environments where unauthorized controller access could cause process disruption or physical damage.

Vulnerability Intelligence

KEV — Known Exploited

What is CVE-2021-22681 Rockwell Automation Logix Controllers Insufficient Credential Protection (CVE-2021-22681)?

Rockwell Automation Logix Controllers Insufficient Credential Protection (CVE-2021-22681) (CVE-2021-22681) maps to the Credential Access and Initial Access and Lateral Movement tactics — the adversary is trying to steal account names and passwords in MITRE ATT&CK.

This page provides production-ready detection logic for Rockwell Automation Logix Controllers Insufficient Credential Protection (CVE-2021-22681), covering the data sources and telemetry it touches: DeviceNetworkEvents, CommonSecurityLog, AzureMonitor OT/ICS sensors. The queries below are rated critical severity at medium confidence, and ship for 7 SIEM platforms — KQL, SPL, Elastic, QRadar, Sumo, YARA-L, LogScale.

MITRE ATT&CK

Tactic
Credential Access Initial Access Lateral Movement
Microsoft Sentinel / Defender
kusto
union DeviceNetworkEvents, CommonSecurityLog
| where TimeGenerated >= ago(7d)
| where DestinationPort in (44818, 2222, 2221) or ApplicationProtocol =~ "EtherNet/IP" or ApplicationProtocol =~ "CIP"
| where DeviceVendor =~ "Rockwell" or DeviceProduct has_any ("Logix", "ControlLogix", "CompactLogix", "GuardLogix", "SoftLogix", "DriveLogix")
| extend AuthAttempt = iff(Message has_any ("login", "authenticate", "credential", "password", "session"), true, false)
| where AuthAttempt == true or DestinationPort == 44818
| project TimeGenerated, DeviceName, SourceIP, DestinationIP, DestinationPort, ApplicationProtocol, Message, DeviceProduct, AdditionalExtensions
| order by TimeGenerated desc

Detects network activity targeting Rockwell Automation Logix controllers on EtherNet/IP (port 44818) and CIP protocol ports, flagging authentication-related events that may indicate exploitation of CVE-2021-22681 insufficient credential protection.

critical severity medium confidence

Data Sources

DeviceNetworkEvents CommonSecurityLog AzureMonitor OT/ICS sensors

Required Tables

DeviceNetworkEvents CommonSecurityLog

False Positives

  • Legitimate engineering workstation connections to Logix controllers for routine programming or monitoring
  • Scheduled backups or asset inventory scans using EtherNet/IP
  • OEM vendor remote access sessions for maintenance
  • Network monitoring tools polling controller status via CIP

Sigma rule & cross-platform mapping

The detection logic for Rockwell Automation Logix Controllers Insufficient Credential Protection (CVE-2021-22681) (CVE-2021-22681) above is provided in a vendor-neutral form so you can deploy it on any SIEM. The same logic is shipped here as native KQL (Microsoft Sentinel / Defender), SPL (Splunk), Elastic (Elastic Security (EQL)), QRadar (IBM QRadar (AQL)), Sumo (Sumo Logic CSE), YARA-L (Google Chronicle / SecOps), LogScale (CrowdStrike LogScale (CQL)) queries. In Sigma terms, this detection targets the following logsource:

logsource:
  category: network_connection
  product: windows

Browse the community-maintained Sigma rules for this technique:


Testing Methodology

Validate this detection against 3 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.

  1. Test 1EtherNet/IP Controller Enumeration via nmap

    Expected signal: Network connection events from the scanning host to port 44818 on multiple destination IPs; IDS alerts for CIP/EtherNet/IP enumeration

  2. Test 2CIP Session Credential Capture via Wireshark

    Expected signal: Passive capture produces no active network events; detection depends on promiscuous mode detection or IDS passive analysis alerts

  3. Test 3RSLinx Classic Unauthorized Connection Attempt

    Expected signal: Windows process creation for RSLinx.exe; network connection from non-engineering workstation to controller port 44818; controller audit log entry for unauthorized connection attempt

Unlock Pro Content

Get the full detection package for CVE-2021-22681 including response playbook, investigation guide, and atomic red team tests.

Response PlaybookInvestigation GuideHunting QueriesAtomic Red Team TestsTuning Guidance

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