Vuln-PLC

A Black Hat Defense ICS/SCADA Training Lab

Vuln-PLC is a purpose-built vulnerable industrial control system (ICS) training lab developed by Black Hat Defense LLC for authorized ICS/SCADA security testing in controlled environments.

The project is designed to simulate realistic operational technology (OT) attack surfaces—including unsafe configurations, exposed industrial protocols, and lateral movement paths—without risking production infrastructure.

What This Demonstrates

This project demonstrates practical ICS/SCADA security capability, including protocol-level analysis, realistic attack path modeling, and safety-aware offensive testing methodology within controlled environments.

Intended Use

Common authorized use cases include:

  • ICS/SCADA penetration testing practice
  • Red-team methodology development
  • Blue-team monitoring and detection validation
  • Security assessment reporting and documentation drills

Security Findings Summary

During the assessment, multiple vulnerabilities were identified within the simulated ICS environment that could allow unauthorized manipulation of industrial process conditions or exposure of operational data.

  • Critical: Unauthenticated control API allowed direct manipulation of simulated process states.
  • High: Industrial control endpoints accepted undefined commands and returned success responses.
  • High: Direct PLC register access exposed operational telemetry without authentication.
  • Medium: Monitoring interface failed to reflect active alarm conditions.
  • Low: Server framework information disclosure via HTTP headers.

These findings demonstrate how misconfigured industrial control systems can expose operational technology environments to remote manipulation, data leakage, and degraded situational awareness for operators.

Legal Notice

Vuln-PLC is provided strictly for educational and research purposes in controlled lab environments. Do NOT deploy this project in production or test real-world industrial systems without explicit written authorization. Unauthorized testing of operational technology may be illegal and dangerous.

Vuln-PLC lab startup
Containerized lab startup (services online)
Vuln-PLC login interface
HMI login interface (auth surface)
Vuln-PLC HMI view
Process visualization (tank + live sensors)
Vuln-PLC alerting view
Control alerts & event monitoring