Security News > 2021 > August > PwnedPiper vulns have potential to turn Swisslog's PTS hospital products into Swiss cheese, says Armis

Security specialist Armis has discovered vulnerabilities, collectively dubbed PwnedPiper, in pneumatic tube control systems used in thousands of hospitals worldwide - including 80 per cent of the major hospitals found in the US. The researcher spotted the PwnedPiper vulnerabilities in Swisslog's Nexus stations for its Translogic Pneumatic Tube System product - a connected control system for the delivery tubes which send medicines, samples, blood products, and paperwork whizzing around a hospital.

"The PTS system supports variable speed transactions which, on the one hand allow for express shipment of urgent items," the researchers said, "While on the other, enable the slow transfer of sensitive items, such as blood products, that may be harmed if jolted too quickly within the tubes. If an attacker were to compromise the PTS system, he may alter the system's speed restrictions, which can in turn damage such sensitive items."

Ben Seri, vice president of research and leader of the team which discovered the vulnerabilities, told us: "Armis disclosed the vulnerabilities to Swisslog on May 1, 2021 and has been working with the manufacturer to ensure proper security measures and patches will be provided to customers. With so many hospitals reliant on this technology we've worked diligently to address these vulnerabilities to increase cyber resiliency in these healthcare environments, where lives are on the line."

The Register asked Swisslog to comment on the vulnerabilities and on the certification process its PTS products went through before being sold into hospitals.

"In May, cyber security platform provider Armis approached us to share that it found some potential vulnerabilities to our TransLogic firmware that drives a specific panel in some pneumatic tube systems if a bad actor was first able to successfully break into a hospital's secure network, know and understand the pathway from there to the panel, and then leverage the vulnerabilities."

"We immediately started collaborating on both short-term mitigation and long-term fixes. A software update for all but one of the vulnerabilities has been developed, and specific mitigation strategies for the remaining vulnerability are available for customers. Swisslog Healthcare has already begun rolling out these solutions and will continue to work with its customers and affected facilities. Our commitment to security as an organizational priority has prepared us to address these types of issues with efficiency and transparency."

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/08/02/pwnedpiper_swisslog_pts/