MOXA MGate 5000 Series Industrial Device Servers User Guide
- June 5, 2024
- MOXA
Table of Contents
The Security Hardening Guide for the MGate 5000 Serie
Moxa Technical Support Team
support@moxa.com
About Moxa
Moxa is a leading provider of edge connectivity, industrial computing, and
network infrastructure solutions for enabling connectivity for the Industrial
Internet of Things (IIoT). With over 30 years of industry experience, Moxa
has connected more than 71 million devices worldwide and has a distribution
and service network that reaches customers in more than 80 countries. Moxa
delivers lasting business value by empowering industries with reliable
networks and sincere service. Information about Moxa’s solutions is available
at www.moxa.com
Introduction
This document provides guidelines on how to configure and secure the MGate 5000 Series. The recommended steps in this document should be considered best practices for security in most applications. It is highly recommended that you review and test the configurations thoroughly before implementing them in your production system in order to ensure that your application is not negatively impacted.
General System Information
2.1 Basic Information AbBasic Information About the Device
Model| | Function| Operating System| Firmware
Version
---|---|---|---|---
MGate| 5101 Series| PROFIBUS-to-Modbus TCPGateway| Linux| v2.2
MGate| 5102 Series| PROFIBUS-to-PROFINET Gateway| Linux| v2.3
MGate| 5103 Series| Modbus RTU/ASCII/EtherNet/IP-to-PROFINET Gateway| Linux|
v2.2
MGate| 5105 Series| Modbus RTU/ASCII/TCP-to-EtherNet/IP Gateway| Linux| v4.3
MGate| 5109 Series| Modbus RTU/ASCII/TCP-to-DNP3 serial/TCP Gateway| Linux|
v2.3
MGate| 5111 Series| Modbus/PROFINET/EtherNet/IP-to-PROFIBUS Gateway| Linux|
v1.3
MGate| 5114 Series| Modbus RTU/ASCII/TCP/IEC101-to-IEC104 Gateway| Linux| v1.3
MGate| 5118 Series| CAN-J1939-to-Modbus/PROFINET/EtherNet/IP Gateway| Linux|
v2.2
MGate Series| W5108/W5208| IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless Modbus/DNP3 Gateway|
Linux| v2.4
MGate| 5217 Series| Modbus-to-BACnet/IP gateway| Moxa Operating
System| v1.2
The MGate 5000 Series is a protocol gateway specifically designed to allow
industrial devices to be directly accessed from a network. Thus, legacy
Fieldbus devices can be transformed into different protocols, which can be
monitored and controlled from any network location or even the Internet.
To harden the security of the operating system, the following open-source
HTTPS libraries are included and periodically reviewed for cybersecurity
enhancement.
- Linux models: OpenSSL v1.1.1b
- Moxa Operating System models: embed TLS v2.7.
2.2 Deployment of the Device
You should deploy the MGate 5000 Series behind a secure firewall network that
has sufficient security features in place to ensure that networks are safe
from internal and external threats.
Make sure that the physical protection of the MGate devices and/or the system
meets the security needs of your application. Depending on the environment and
the threat of the situation, the form of protection can vary significantly.
Configuration and Hardening Information
For security reasons, account and password protection are enabled by default,
so you must provide the correct account and password to unlock the device
before entering the web console of the gateway.
The default account and password are admin and moxa (both in lowercase
letters), respectively. Once you are successfully logged in, a pop-up
notification will remind you to change the password to ensure a higher level
of security.
3.1 TCP/UDP Ports and Recommended Services
Please refer to the table below for all the ports, protocols, and services
that are used to communicate between the MGate 5000 Series and other devices
Service Name| Option| Default Settings| Type|
Port Number| Description
---|---|---|---|---|---
DSC (Moxa Command)| Enable/Disable| Enable| TCP| 4900| For Moxa utility
communication
UDP| 4800
DNS client| Enable/Disable| Disable| UDP| 53| Processing DNS and WINS (Client)
data
SNMP agent| Enable/Disable| Enable| UDP| 161| SNMP handling routine
HTTP server| Enable/Disable| Enable| TCP| 80| Web console
HTTPS server| Enable/Disable| Enable| TCP| 443| Secured web console
Telnet server| Enable/Disable| Disable| TCP| 23| Telnet console
DHCP client| Enable/Disable| Disable| UDP| 68| The DHCP client needs to
acquire the system IP address from the server
Syslog client| Enable/Disable| Disable| UDP| 514| Sending the system logs to
the remote Syslog server
Email client| Enable/Disable| Disable| TCP| 25| Sending system/config event
notifications
SNMP trap client| Enable/Disable| Disable| UDP| 162| Sending system/config
event notifications
Service Name| Option| Default Settings| Type|
Port Number| Description
---|---|---|---|---|---
NTP client| Enable/Disable| Disable| UDP| 123| Network time protocol to
synchronize the system time from the server
Modbus TCP client/server| Enable/Disable| Enable| TCP| 502,7502| 502 for
Modbus communication; 7502 for priority Modbus communication
EtherNet/IP| Enable/Disable| Enable| TCP, UDP| 2222, 44818| 2222 for
EtherNet/IP implicit messaging 44818 for EtherNet/IP explicit messaging
PROFINET| Enable/Disable| Enable| UDP| 34963| 34963 for PROFINET protocol
communication
DNP3| Enable/Disable| Enable| TCP, UDP| 20000| 20000 for DNP3 protocol
communication
IEC-104| Enable/Disable| Enable| TCP| 2404| 2404 for IEC-104 protocol
communication
For security reasons, you should consider disabling unused services. After initial setup, use services with stronger security for data communication. Refer to the table below for the suggested settings.
Service Name| Suggested Setting| Type| Port
Number| Security Remark
---|---|---|---|---
DSC (Moxa Command)| Disable| TCP| 4900| Disable this service as it is
not commonly used
UDP| 4800
DNS client| Disable| UDP| 53| Disable this service as it is not commonly
used
SNMP agent| Disable| UDP| 161| Managing the MGate via HTTPS the console
will be more secure
HTTP server| Disable| TCP| 80| Disable HTTP to prevent plain text
transmission
HTTPS server| Enable| TCP| 443| Encrypted data channel with a trusted
certificate for MGate configuration
Telnet server| Disable| TCP| 23| Disable this service as it is not
commonly used
DHCP client| Disable| UDP| 68| Assign an IP address manually for the
device
Service Name| Suggested Setting| Type| Port
Number| Security Remark
---|---|---|---|---
Syslog client| Enable| UDP| 514| A service for sending important system
events for a diagnosis of the MGate’s status
Email client| Enable| TCP| 25| A service for sending important system
events for a diagnosis of the MGate’s status
SNMP trap client| Enable| UDP| 162| A service for sending important
system events for a diagnosis of the MGate’s status
NTP client| Disable| UDP| 123| Disable this service as it is not
commonly used
Modbus TCP client/server| Enable| TCP| 502, 7502| Make sure you add your
Modbus devices’ IP addresses to the “Accessible IP list”
EtherNet/IP| Enable| TCP, UDP| 2222, 44818| 2222 for EtherNet/IP
implicit messaging; 44818 for EtherNet/IP explicit messaging
PROFINET| Enable| UDP| 34963| 34963 for PROFINET protocol communication
DNP3| Enable| TCP, UDP| 20000| 20000 for the DNP3 protocol communication
IEC-104| Enable| TCP| 2404| 2404 for the IEC-104 protocol communication
BACnet/IP| Enable| UDP| 47808| 47808 for BACnet/IP protocol
communication
For console services, we recommend the following:
| HTTP | Disable |
|---|---|
| HTTP | Enable |
| Telnet | Disable |
| Moxa Command | Disable |
To enable or disable these services, log in to the HTTP/HTTPS console and
select System Management Misc. Settings Console Settings
To disable the SNMP agent service, log in to the HTTP/HTTPS console and select
System Management SNMP Agent , then select Disable for
SNMP.
To disable the NTP service, log in to the HTTP/HTTPS console, select Basic
Settings , and keep the Time server setting empty. This will disable the
NTP service.
Note For each instruction above, click the Submit button to save your changes, then restart the MGate device so the new settings will take effect.
3.2 HTTPS and SSL Certificates
HTTPS is an encrypted communication channel. As TLS v1.1 or lower has severe
vulnerabilities that can easily be hacked, MGate devices use TLS v1.2 for
HTTPS to ensure
data transmissions are secured. Make sure your browser has TLS v1.2 enabled.
In order to use the HTTPS console without a certificate warning appearing,
you need to import a trusted certificate issued by a third-party certificate
authority.
Log in to the HTTP/HTTPS console and select System Management Certificate.
You can generate an up-to-date valid certificate by importing a third-party
trusted SSL certificate or generating the “MGate self-signed” certificate.
3.2.1 Behavior of the SSL Certificate on an MGate Device
MGate devices can auto-generate a self-signed SSL certificate. It is
recommended that you import SSL certificates that are either certified by a
trusted third-party Certificate Authority (CA) or by an organization’s CA.
The length of the MGate device’s self-signed private keys is 1,024 bits, which
should be compatible with most applications. Some applications may need a
longer key, such as 2,048 bits, which would require importing a third-party
certificate. Please note that longer keys will mean browsing the web console
will be slower due to the increased complexity of encrypting and decrypting
communicated data.
3.2.2 MGate Self-signed Certificate
If a certificate has expired, you can regenerate the MGate self-signed
certificate with the following steps.
Step 1: Delete the current SSL certificate issued by the MGate device.
Step 2: Enable the NTP server and set up the time zone and local time.
Step 3: After restarting the device, the MGate self-signed certificate
will be regenerated with a new expiration date.
3.2.3 Importing a Third-party Trusted SSL Certificate
Importing the third-party trusted SSL certificate can improve security. To
generate the SSL certificate through a third party, follow these steps:
Step 1: Create a certification authority (Root CA), such as Microsoft AD
Certificate Service
(https://mizitechinfo.wordpress.com/2014/07/19/step-by-stepinstalling-
certificate-authority-on-windows-
server-2012-r2/)
Step 2: Find a tool to issue a certificate signing request (CSR) file.
You can get one from a third-party CA company such as DigiCert
(https://www.digicert.com/easycsr/openssl.htm.
Step 3: Submit the CSR file to a public certification authority to get a
signed certificate.
Step 4: Import the certificate to the MGate device. Please note that
MGate devices only accept certificates using a “.pem” format.
Note The maximum supported key length for MGate devices is 2,048 bits.
Here are some well-known third-party CA (Certificate Authority) companies for
your
reference
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certificate_authority):
- IdenTrust (https://www.identrust.com/)
- DigiCert (https://www.digicert.com/)
- Comodo Cybersecurity (https://www.comodo.com/)
- GoDaddy (https://www.godaddy.com/)
• Verisign (https://www.verisign.com/)
3.3 Account Management
The MGate 5000 Series provides two different user levels, admin and user, with
a maximum of 16 accounts. With an administrator account, you can access and
modify all settings through the web console. With the user account, you can
only view settings.
The default administrator account is admin, with the default password
moxa. To manage accounts, log in to the web console and select System
Management Misc. Settings Account Management. To change the password
of an existing account, double-click the name of the account. You can change
the password on the page that opens. 
To add a new account, log in to the HTTP/HTTPS console and select System Management Misc. Settings Account Management. Click the Add button, then fill in the Account name, User level, New password, and Retype password to generate a new account. 
Note We suggest you manage your device with another “administrator level”
account instead of using the default “admin” account, as it is commonly used
by embedded systems. Once the new administrator-level account has been
created, it is suggested that the original “admin” account should be monitored
for security reasons to prevent brute-force attacks.
To improve security, the login password policy and account login failure
lockout can be configured. To configure them, log in to the HTTP/HTTPS console
and select System
Management Misc. Settings Login Password Policy.
You should adjust the password policy to require more complex passwords. For
example, set the Minimum length to 16, enable all password complexity
strength checks, and enable the Password lifetime options. Also, to avoid
a brute-force attack, it’s suggested that you enable the Account login
failure lockout feature.
For some system security requirements, a warning message may need to be
displayed to all users attempting to log in to the device. To add a login
message, log in to the HTTP/HTTPS console and select System Management Misc.
Settings Notification Message, and enter a Login Message to use. 
3.4 Accessible IP List
The MGate 5000 Series can limit access to specific host IP addresses to
prevent unauthorized access to the gateway. If a host’s IP address is in the
accessible IP list, then the host will be allowed to access the MGate 5000
Series. To configure this, log in to the HTTP/HTTPS console and select
System Management Accessible IP List. The different restrictions are
listed in the table below (the checkbox Apply additional restrictions can
only be activated if Activate the accessible IP list is activated)
Activate the accessible IP list| Apply additional
restrictions| IP is in the list and Active is checked| IP is not in
the list OR Active is not checked
---|---|---|---
| –| All protocol communication and services are allowed for the IP.|
Protocol communication is not allowed, but services are still allowed for the
IP.
| | All protocol communication and services are allowed for the IP.| All
services are not allowed for the IP.
*HTTP, HTTPS, TELNET, SSL, SNMP, SMTP, DNS, NTP, DSU
You may add a specific address or range of addresses by using a combination of
an IP address and a netmask as follows:
- To allow access to a specific IP address: Enter the IP address in the corresponding field, then enter 255.255.255.255 for the netmask.
- To allow access to hosts on a specific subnet: For both the IP address and netmask, use 0 for the last digit (e.g., “192.168.1.0” and “255.255.255.0”).
- To allow access to all IP addresses: Make sure that Enable the checkbox for the accessible IP list is not checked.
Additional configuration examples are shown in the following table:
| Desired IP Range | IP Address | Netmask |
|---|---|---|
| Any host | Disable | Enable |
| 192.168.1.120 | 192.168.1.120 | 255.255.255.255 |
| 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.254 | 192.168.1.0 | 255.255.255.0 |
| 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.255.254 | 192.168.0.0 | 255.255.0.0 |
| 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.126 | 192.168.1.0 | 255.255.255.128 |
| 192.168.1.129 to 192.168.1.254 | 192.168.1.128 | 255.255.255.128 |
WARNING
Ensure that the IP address of the PC you are using to access the web console
is in the Accessible IP List. If your PC’s IP address is not listed in the
Accessible IP list, your PC will not be able to access the gate.
3.5 Logging and Auditing
These are the events that will be recorded by the MGate 5000 Series. The SD
card access failure event and protocol events vary for the different MGate
5000 models.
| Event Group | Summary |
|---|---|
| System | System cold start, system warm start, SD card access failure |
| Network | DHCP/BOOTP gets IP/renew, NTP connect failed, IP conflict, Network |
link down
Configuration| Login failed, IP changed, Password changed, Firmware upgraded,
SSL Certificate imported, Configuration imported/exported,
Configuration changed, Clear event logged
Protocol| Protocol communication logs
To configure this setting, log in to the HTTP/HTTPS console and select
System Management System Log Settings. Then, enable the Local Log for
recording on the gate 5000 device and/or Syslog for keeping records on a
server. You should enable system log settings to record all important system
events to monitor device status and check for security issues. 
To view events in the system log, log in to the HTTP/HTTPS console and select
System Monitoring System Log.
3.6 DoS Defense
You can enable and configure a number of features to enable DoS Defense in
order to protect against denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.
Note This function is not supported in the MGate 5217 Series.
Patching/Upgrades
4.1 Patch Management Plan
For patch management, Moxa generally releases version enhancements with
thorough release notes annually.
4.2 Firmware Upgrades
The process for upgrading firmware is as follows:
-
Download the latest firmware for your MGate device from the Moxa website:
MGate 5101 Series:
https://www.moxa.com/en/products/industrial-edge- connectivity/protocolgateways/modbus-tcp-gateways/mgate-5101-pbm-mn- series#resources
MGate 5102 Series :
https://www.moxa.com/en/products/industrial-edge- connectivity/protocolgateways/profinet-gateways/mgate-5102-pbm-pn- series
MGate 5103 Series:
https://www.moxa.com/en/products/industrial-edge- connectivity/protocolgateways/modbus-tcp- gateways/mgate-5103-series#resources
MGate 5105 Series:
https://www.moxa.com/en/products/industrial-edge- connectivity/protocolgateways/modbus-tcp-gateways/mgate-5105-mb-eip- series#resources
MGate 5109 Series :
https://www.moxa.com/en/products/industrial-edge- connectivity/protocolgateways/modbus-tcp- gateways/mgate-5109-series#resources
MGate 5111 Series:
https://www.moxa.com/en/products/industrial-edge- connectivity/protocolgateways/modbus-tcp- gateways/mgate-5111-series#resources
MGate 5114 Series:
https://www.moxa.com/en/products/industrial-edge- connectivity/protocolgateways/modbus-tcp- gateways/mgate-5114-series#resources
MGate 5118 Series:
https://www.moxa.com/en/products/industrial-edge- connectivity/protocolgateways/modbus-tcp- gateways/mgate-5118-series#resources
MGate W5108/W5208 Series:
https://www.moxa.com/en/products/industrial-edge-connectivity/protocol- gateways/modbus-tcp- gateways/mgate-w5108-w5208-series#resources
MGate 5217I Series:
https://www.moxa.com/en/products/industrial-edge- connectivity/protocolgateways/modbus-tcp- gateways/mgate-5217-series#resources -
Moxa’s website provides the SHA-512 hash value for you to double-check if the firmware is identical to the one on the website.
-
Log in to the HTTP/HTTPS console and select System Management Maintenance Firmware Upgrade. Click the Choose File button to select the proper firmware and click Submit to upgrade the firmware.
-
If you want to upgrade the firmware for multiple units, then download the utility Device Search Utility (DSU) or MXconfig for a GUI interface, or the Moxa CLI Configuration Tool for a CLI interface.
Security Information and Vulnerability Feedback
As the adoption of the Industrial IoT (IIoT) continues to grow rapidly,
security has become one of our top priorities. The Moxa Cyber Security
Response Team (CSRT) takes a proactive approach to protect our products from
security vulnerabilities and help our customers better manage security risks.
You can find the latest Moxa security information here:
https://www.moxa.com/en/support/product-support/security-advisory
References
- Moxa - Your Trusted Partner in Automation
- Certificate authority - Wikipedia
- Step by Step : Installing Certificate Authority on Windows Server 2012 R2 | Just a random "Microsoft Server / Client Tech" info..
- Endpoint Detection and Response, Free - What is EDR Security?
- SSL Digital Certificate Authority | Encryption & Authentication | DigiCert.com
- Domain Names, Websites, Hosting & Online Marketing Tools - GoDaddy
- IdenTrust – Part of HID Global
- Security Advisories
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