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WinccApplication · Siemens

CVE-2013-4911

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-08-01
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Siemens WinCC (TIA Portal) 11 and 12 before 12 SP1 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of unspecified victims by leveraging improper configuration of SIMATIC HMI panels by the WinCC product.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Siemens WinCC (TIA Portal) versions 11 and 12 before Service Pack 1 allows remote attackers to hijack user authentication by exploiting improper configuration of SIMATIC HMI panels managed by the WinCC product. The vulnerability stems from the WinCC system's improper handling of cross-site requests when configuring SIMATIC HMI panels, enabling attackers to perform actions on behalf of authenticated users.

MitigationUpdate Siemens WinCC (TIA Portal) to version 12 SP1 or later, and review/improper configuration settings for SIMATIC HMI panels to ensure proper CSRF protections are enabled.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
WinccApplication
Affected:= 11.0= 12.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the installed WinCC (TIA Portal) version
    Open the TIA Portal software and navigate to the Help menu, then select 'About TIA Portal' to view the exact version and service pack information. Alternatively, check the installation directory for version files or use the Siemens Software Identifier tool if available.
    Affected if The installed version is 11.0 or 12.0 without Service Pack 1 installed.
  2. Confirm SIMATIC HMI panel management is configured
    Within the TIA Portal project, expand the device tree and look for SIMATIC HMI devices (touch panels, operator panels) that are part of the project. Check the project settings under 'HMI' to see if remote panel management or configuration is enabled.
    Affected if SIMATIC HMI panels are present in the project and are configured for remote management or monitoring through WinCC.
  3. Inspect HMI panel web server settings
    For each configured SIMATIC HMI panel, access the device configuration and examine the 'Web server' or 'Web navigation' settings. Look for the security configuration options related to request validation or CSRF protection.
    Affected if The HMI web server settings show that web-based access is enabled without explicit CSRF protection or token validation configured.
  4. Review user authentication configuration for HMI panels
    In the TIA Portal, navigate to the HMI Runtime settings and examine the 'User administration' or 'Security' settings. Check whether the HMI panels are configured to require authentication for configuration changes and if session tokens are being used.
    Affected if The HMI panel allows configuration changes via web interfaces without requiring unique session tokens or referrer validation.

You are affected if WinCC (TIA Portal) version 11.0 or 12.0 is installed without Service Pack 1 and SIMATIC HMI panels are managed through the system with web-based configuration access enabled.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update Siemens WinCC (TIA Portal) to version 12 SP1 or later, and review/improper configuration settings for SIMATIC HMI panels to ensure proper CSRF protections are enabled.

Fix this in Wincc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2013-4911 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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