CVE-2014-1696
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 · uneditedSiemens SIMATIC WinCC OA before 3.12 P002 January uses a weak hash algorithm for passwords, which makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain access via a brute-force attack.
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 · high confidenceSiemens SIMATIC WinCC OA versions prior to 3.12 P002 January use a weak hash algorithm for password storage, which allows remote attackers to potentially crack passwords through brute-force attacks and gain unauthorized access to the SCADA system.
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<= 3.12CVSS 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
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed SIMATIC WinCC OA versionCheck the product version through the WinCC OA manager or look in the installation directory for version information files. Typically found in the installation root or via the 'winccoa -version' command if available in the command line tools.Affected if The version displayed is earlier than 3.12 P002 (for example, 3.12, 3.11, 3.10, or any version prior to the January release of 3.12 P002).
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Verify password storage configurationLocate the user configuration or password storage files within the WinCC OA installation directory. These are typically stored in config or user management directories.Affected if Password hashes are stored using a weak or fast hashing algorithm (such as MD5 or SHA1 without proper salting), which makes them vulnerable to brute-force recovery.
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Check for default or weak user accountsReview the user management system within WinCC OA to identify accounts with default or easily guessable passwords. Examine user configuration files or the user database.Affected if Default administrator or operator accounts exist with unchanged passwords, or passwords can be recovered through offline brute-force attacks against the stored hashes.
A user is affected if their installed SIMATIC WinCC OA version is earlier than 3.12 P002 AND the system relies on its built-in password storage for authentication, as passwords would be hashed with a weak algorithm susceptible to brute-force cracking.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpgrade to SIMATIC WinCC OA version 3.12 P002 or later which implements stronger password hashing. Until upgraded, enforce network segmentation, restrict access to trusted IP addresses, and monitor for brute-force attempts.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-1696 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-1696 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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