• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

Allianz Life data breach exposed the data of most of its 1.4M customers

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 55

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 534 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites

 | 

Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme

 | 

Operation CargoTalon targets Russia’s aerospace with EAGLET malware,

 | 

Unpatched flaw in EoL LG LNV5110R cameras lets hackers gain Admin access

 | 

Koske, a new AI-Generated Linux malware appears in the threat landscape

 | 

Mitel patches critical MiVoice MX-ONE Auth bypass flaw

 | 

Coyote malware is first-ever malware abusing Windows UI Automation

 | 

SonicWall fixed critical flaw in SMA 100 devices exploited in Overstep malware attacks

 | 

DSPM & AI Are Booming: $17.87B and $4.8T Markets by 2033

 | 

Stealth backdoor found in WordPress mu-Plugins folder

 | 

U.S. CISA adds CrushFTP, Google Chromium, and SysAid flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

U.S. CISA urges FCEB agencies to fix two Microsoft SharePoint flaws immediately and added them to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Sophos fixed two critical Sophos Firewall vulnerabilities

 | 

French Authorities confirm XSS.is admin arrested in Ukraine

 | 

Microsoft linked attacks on SharePoint flaws to China-nexus actors

 | 

Cisco confirms active exploitation of ISE and ISE-PIC flaws

 | 

SharePoint under fire: new ToolShell attacks target enterprises

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • Hacking
  • Security
  • High-Risk flaws affect the NOAA Satellite System JPSS

High-Risk flaws affect the NOAA Satellite System JPSS

Pierluigi Paganini September 11, 2014

The NOAA JPSS System is affected by thousands vulnerabilities, according to a memorandum from the Department of Commerce’s Office of the Inspector General.

The Satellite systems at NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) are affected by thousands of severe vulnerabilities that could be exploited by threat actors hit them.

The disconcerting news refers the findings of an audit conducted by the Department of Commerce’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the bureaus has recently examined Joint Polar Satellite System’s (JPSS) ground system discovering a series of major flaws.
The NOAA JPSS in an example of the next generation of polar-orbiting environmental satellites, its ground system is used to collect data from several polar-orbiting weather satellites, and provide the information to the users. The JPSS infrastructure is also used control and process data for current and future weather satellites.
The NOAA JPSS is ranked as a “High Impact” IT system because any attack could cause catastrophic effects on organizational operations and individuals.
“Our analysis of the JPSS program’s assessments of system vulnerabilities found that, since FY 2012, the number of high-risk vulnerabilities in the system had increased by two-thirds despite recent efforts the program has taken to remediate these vulnerabilities,” reports a memorandum from Allen Crawley, assistant inspector general for systems acquisition and IT security, to Kathryn Sullivan, under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.
The number of high-risk vulnerabilities identified during the assessments conducted in the last couple of years is amazing, it rose from 14,486 in the first quarter of the fiscal year (FY) 2012 to 23,868 in the second quarter of FY 2014 (+ 165%).
jpss noaa satellite systems 2

“If exploited, these [high-risk] vulnerabilities may make it possible for attackers to significantly disrupt the JPSS mission of providing critical data used in weather forecasting and climate monitoring,” Crawley states in the memorandum.

Due to the nature of satellite systems and their life-cycle, some of the vulnerabilities discovered by the security experts are difficult to fix.
Fortunately, many of the identified high-risk flaws can be fixed with a little effort to apply minor alterations to the NOAA systems, for example correctly configuring more than 3,600 instances of password and auditing settings.
The vulnerability assessment revealed that:
  • More than 9,100 instances of high-risk vulnerabilities identified by vulnerability scans, including (a) out-of-date software versions or missing security patches, (b) insecurely configured software, and (c) unnecessary user privileges within the operating systems and software.
  • More than 3,600 instances where password and auditing settings need to be configured in accordance with JPSS policy.
  • Unnecessary software applications that need to be removed or disabled.
  • Three outstanding vulnerabilities identified by penetration testing conducted in June 2012.
The experts at NOAA received the recommendations in the memorandum implementing for them the necessary fix, like is happened for a Heartbleed vulnerability that was remedied during the third quarter of FY 2014.

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs –  NOAA satellite system, critical infrastructure)


facebook linkedin twitter

critical infrastructure Heartbleed JPSS NOAA Satellite

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 26, 2025
Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 25, 2025
Unpatched flaw in EoL LG LNV5110R cameras lets hackers gain Admin access
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    Allianz Life data breach exposed the data of most of its 1.4M customers

    Data Breach / July 27, 2025

    SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 55

    Malware / July 27, 2025

    Security Affairs newsletter Round 534 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

    Breaking News / July 27, 2025

    Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites

    Cyber Crime / July 26, 2025

    Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme

    Intelligence / July 26, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT