CM0000

Affect the watchdog timer onboard the satellite which could force satellite into some sort of recovery mode/protocol


Informational References

ID: CM0000
DiD Layer: SBC
CAPEC #:  29 | 621 | 624
NIST Rev5 Control Tag Mapping:  CA-7 | CA-7(6) | CP-4 | CP-4(5) | RA-10 | SA-8 | SA-8(21) | SA-8(24) | SA-11 | SA-11(9) | SC-45 | SC-45(1) | SC-45(2)
Lowest Threat Tier to
Create Threat Event:  
VI
Notional Risk Rank Score: 

High-Level Requirements

The Program shall perform in-depth analysis of watchdog timer implementation to achieve high levels of assurance that the implementation will satisfy mission objections and the availability and integrity is protected.

Low-Level Requirements

Requirement Rationale/Additional Guidance/Notes
The [organization] shall ensure synchronization of system clocks within and between systems and system components..{SV-AV-3}{SC-45,SC-45(1),SC-45(2)}

Related SPARTA Techniques and Sub-Techniques

ID Name Description
EX-0012 Modify On-Board Values Threat actors may perform specific commands in order to modify onboard values that the victim SV relies on. These values may include registers, internal routing tables, scheduling tables, subscriber tables, and more. Depending on how the values have been modified, the victim SV may no longer be able to function.
EX-0012.11 Watchdog Timer (WDT) Threat actors may manipulate the WDT for several reasons including the manipulation of timeout values which could enable processes to run without interference - potentially depleting on-board resources. For spacecraft, WDTs can be either software or hardware. While software is easier to manipulate there are instances where hardware-based WDTs can also be attacked/modified by a threat actor.
EX-0012.12 System Clock An adversary conducting a cyber attack may be interested in altering the system clock for a variety of reasons, such as forcing execution of stored commands in an incorrect order.
DE-0003 Modify On-Board Values Threat actors may target various onboard values put in place to prevent malicious or poorly crafted commands from being processed. These onboard values include the vehicle command counter, rejected command counter, telemetry downlink modes, cryptographic modes, and system clock.
DE-0003.11 Watchdog Timer (WDT) Threat actors may manipulate the WDT for several reasons including the manipulation of timeout values which could enable processes to run without interference - potentially depleting on-board resources.
IMP-0001 Deception (or Misdirection) Threat actors may seek to deceive mission stakeholders (or even military decision makers) for a multitude of reasons. Telemetry values could be modified, attacks could be designed to intentionally mimic another threat actor's TTPs, and even allied ground infrastructure could be compromised and used as the source of communications to the SV.
IMP-0002 Disruption Threat actors may seek to disrupt communications from the victim SV to the ground controllers or other interested parties. By disrupting communications during critical times, there is the potential impact of data being lost or critical actions not being performed. This could cause the SV's purpose to be put into jeopardy depending on what communications were lost during the disruption. This behavior is different than Denial as this attack can also attempt to modify the data and messages as they are passed as a way to disrupt communications.
IMP-0003 Denial Threat actors may seek to deny ground controllers and other interested parties access to the victim SV. This would be done exhausting system resource, degrading subsystems, or blocking communications entirely. This behavior is different from Disruption as this seeks to deny communications entirely, rather than stop them for a length of time.
IMP-0004 Degradation Threat actors may target various subsystems or the hosted payload in such a way in order to rapidly increase it's degradation. This could potentially shorten the lifespan of the victim SV.

Related SPARTA Countermeasures

ID Name Description NIST Rev5 D3FEND ISO 27001
CM0000 Countermeasure Not Identified This technique is a result of utilizing TTPs to create an impact and the applicable countermeasures are associated with the TTPs leveraged to achieve the impact None None