Experion Process Knowledge SystemWeb browser · Honeywell

CVE-2014-5435

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-04-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
An arbitrary memory write vulnerability exists in the dual_onsrv.exe module in Honeywell Experion PKS R40x before R400.6, R41x before R410.6, and R43x before R430.2, that could lead to possible remote code execution or denial of service. Honeywell strongly encourages and recommends all customers running unsupported versions of EKPS prior to R400 to upgrade to a supported version.

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 confidence

Arbitrary memory write vulnerability in the dual_onsrv.exe service module of Honeywell Experion PKS control systems. The flaw allows unauthenticated remote attackers to write to arbitrary memory locations, enabling potential remote code execution or denial of service against the control system network.

MitigationUpgrade Honeywell Experion PKS to version R400.6 or later (R40x), R410.6 or later (R41x), or R430.2 or later (R43x). This is a critical infrastructure system requiring coordinated downtime and validation testing.

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
Experion Process Knowledge SystemWeb browser
Affected:>= r400, < r400.6>= r410, < r410.6>= r430, < r430.2

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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Confirm Honeywell Experion PKS installation
    Check system inventory or installed programs for Honeywell Experion Process Knowledge System. On Windows systems running Experion, check Program Files for Honeywell\Experion directory structure.
    Affected if Honeywell Experion PKS is not installed on the system
  2. Identify Experion PKS version
    Check the installed Experion version. This is typically available through the Honeywell software installation, often visible in the About section of the Experion console, or via registry keys under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Honeywell\Experion if the server is Windows-based.
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or is not visible in standard locations
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Compare the installed version to the affected ranges: r400.x (where x < 6), r410.x (where x < 6), or r430.x (where x < 2). Note that versions r400.6+, r410.6+, and r430.2+ are not affected.
    Affected if Installed version falls within >= r400 and < r400.6, OR >= r410 and < r410.6, OR >= r430 and < r430.2
  4. Locate dual_onsrv.exe service module
    Search for dual_onsrv.exe in the Experion installation directories, typically under the Experion server installation path (for example, in the Bin or Server folder within the Honeywell\Experion directory structure).
    Affected if dual_onsrv.exe is found and running as a service on the Experion system
  5. Verify service status
    Check if the dual_onsrv.exe process is running. On Windows, use Task Manager or the command 'tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq dual_onsrv.exe"' to confirm the service is active.
    Affected if dual_onsrv.exe service is actively running on the control system

The system is affected if Honeywell Experion PKS is installed with a version that falls within the affected ranges (r400.x before r400.6, r410.x before r410.6, or r430.x before r430.2) AND the dual_onsrv.exe service module is present and running.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Honeywell Experion PKS to version R400.6 or later (R40x), R410.6 or later (R41x), or R430.2 or later (R43x). This is a critical infrastructure system requiring coordinated downtime and validation testing.

Recommended fix High confidence

R400.6 (for r40x branch), R410.6 (for r41x branch), or R430.2 (for r43x branch)

  1. Identify the current Experion PKS version by checking the system information or consulting Honeywell documentation
  2. Determine which version branch (r40x, r41x, or r43x) is currently running
  3. Plan the upgrade path based on the current branch: if on r40x, upgrade to r400.6 or later; if on r41x, upgrade to r410.6 or later; if on r43x, upgrade to r430.2 or later
  4. Create a complete system backup before initiating any upgrade
  5. Review Honeywell's official upgrade documentation for Experion PKS
  6. Execute the upgrade following Honeywell's recommended procedures
  7. Verify the installation and test that all critical functions operate normally
Caveat Upgrade of industrial control systems carries inherent risk and should be thoroughly tested in a staging environment before production deployment; consult Honeywell documentation for version-specific migration notes

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Experion Process Knowledge System Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
48.0 hours of engineering $8,320
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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-2014-5435 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data