CVE-2015-1594
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 · uneditedUntrusted search path vulnerability in Siemens SIMATIC ProSave before 13 SP1; SIMATIC CFC before 8.0 SP4 Upd9 and 8.1 before Upd1; SIMATIC STEP 7 before 5.5 SP1 HF2, 5.5 SP2 before HF7, 5.5 SP3, and 5.5 SP4 before HF4; SIMOTION Scout before 4.4; and STARTER before 4.4 HF3 allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse application file.
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 confidenceUntrusted search path vulnerability in multiple Siemens industrial automation products (SIMATIC ProSave, SIMATIC CFC, SIMATIC STEP 7, SIMOTION Scout, STARTER). The software searches for application files in insecure locations (likely current working directory) allowing a local attacker to place a Trojan horse file that gets executed with elevated privileges when the legitimate software runs.
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<= 4.4= 13.0<= 4.3<= 8.0= 8.1<= 5.5= 5.5CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
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 Siemens industrial softwareCheck Program Files folder for presence of SIMATIC ProSave, SIMATIC CFC, SIMATIC STEP 7, SIMOTION Scout, or STARTER folders. Also check Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Siemens for installed products.Affected if Any of these five products are found installed on the system.
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Determine installed version of affected productLocate the product's About or Help > Version information dialog, or check the executable file properties (right-click on the main .exe file and view Version tab). Common executables include Starter.exe, ProSave.exe, Scout.exe, CFC.exe, and STEP7\simatic.exe.Affected if Version matches or falls within: STARTER <= 4.4, ProSave = 13.0, SIMOTION Scout <= 4.3, CFC <= 8.0 or = 8.1, STEP 7 <= 5.5 or = 5.5.
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Verify launch directory is trustedNote the directory from which the software is launched. Check if the current working directory is user-writable (e.g., Downloads folder, Desktop, USB drive, network share with write access).Affected if The software is launched from a directory where untrusted files could be placed, such as a user-writable location.
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Check for suspicious DLLs in common launch directoriesInspect the current working directory and any directories added to PATH for unexpected DLL or executable files with names matching common system libraries (e.g., kernel32.dll, user32.dll variants).Affected if Unexpected DLL files are found in directories from which the Siemens software is launched.
If any affected Siemens product is installed at a vulnerable version and can be launched from a user-writable directory, the system is vulnerable to local privilege escalation via untrusted search path.
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 dataApply vendor patches (SIMATIC ProSave 13 SP1, CFC 8.0 SP4 Upd9/8.1 Upd1, STEP 7 5.5 SP1 HF2/5.5 SP2 HF7/5.5 SP3/5.5 SP4 HF4, SIMOTION Scout 4.4, STARTER 4.4 HF3). As interim mitigation, ensure software is launched only from trusted directories and not from user-writable locations.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-1594 — 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-2015-1594 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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