Citect, a designer of software used by manufacturing plants and other industrial facilities, has removed an advisory that played down a vulnerability in one of its popular pieces of software.

Citect's move followed last week's release of proof-of-concept code that exploited a vulnerability in CitectSCADA, which is used to manage industrial control mechanisms known as SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) systems. The bug meant systems that relied on the software could potentially be exposed to tampering by disgruntled employees or terrorists.

Kevin Finisterre, the director of penetration testing at security firm Netragard, said he released the code because he believed Citect's advisory was misleading customers about the real severity of the bug. Shortly afterward, the document was pulled from Citect's website and replaced with this one, said Adriel Desautels, CTO of Netragard.

"I think the proof-of-concept served its purpose," Desautels said. "I absolutely do commend" Citect for the removal. He said the release, which was folded in to the Metasploit penetration testing tool kit, was intended solely to clear up confusion by helping security professionals determine for themselves whether they were vulnerable to the bug.

Representatives from Citect, which is headquartered in Australia, weren't immediately available to comment. ®

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