CVE-2018-13804
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 · uneditedA vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC IT LMS (All versions), SIMATIC IT Production Suite (Versions V7.1 < V7.1 Upd3), SIMATIC IT UA Discrete Manufacturing (Versions < V1.2), SIMATIC IT UA Discrete Manufacturing (Versions V1.2), SIMATIC IT UA Discrete Manufacturing (Versions V1.3), SIMATIC IT UA Discrete Manufacturing (Versions V2.3), SIMATIC IT UA Discrete Manufacturing (Versions V2.4). An attacker with network access to the installation could bypass the application-level authentication. In order to exploit the vulnerability, an attacker must obtain network access to an affected installation and must obtain a valid username to the system. Successful exploitation requires no user privileges and no user interaction. The vulnerability could allow an attacker to compromise confidentiality, integrity and availability of the system. At the time of advisory publication no public exploitation of this vulnerability was known.
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 confidenceThis is an authentication bypass vulnerability in Siemens SIMATIC IT industrial software products. An attacker with network access can circumvent the application-level authentication mechanism, though they still need a valid username to exploit the flaw. The vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to potentially compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected 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 dataall versions= v7.1<= v1.2= v1.3= v2.3= v2.4CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed SIMATIC IT productsReview installed software on the system or check program directories for Siemens SIMATIC IT components such as Line Monitoring System, Production Suite, or UA Discrete ManufacturingAffected if Any of the affected products (Line Monitoring System any version, Production Suite v7.1, or UA Discrete Manufacturing v1.2, v1.3, v2.3, v2.4) are present
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Determine exact product versionsUse the Siemens software inventory or check the application's about/version information to identify the specific version numbers of installed SIMATIC IT componentsAffected if The installed version matches one of the affected ranges: Production Suite = v7.1, or UA Discrete Manufacturing <= v1.2, = v1.3, = v2.3, or = v2.4, or Line Monitoring System of any version
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Assess network exposureReview firewall rules, network configurations, and accessible interfaces to determine if the SIMATIC IT application is reachable from untrusted networksAffected if The application is accessible from networks where untrusted users could attempt authentication bypass
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Review authentication logs for anomaliesExamine SIMATIC IT application logs, Windows event logs, or security logs for failed authentication attempts followed by successful access without proper credential validation, or for authentication patterns inconsistent with known usersAffected if Logs show successful authentications originating from unusual sources, times, or patterns suggesting exploitation of the bypass vulnerability
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Verify user account integrityAudit all configured user accounts in the SIMATIC IT system to identify any unauthorized accounts or unexpected privilege escalationsAffected if New or unexpected user accounts exist, or existing accounts show unauthorized access patterns
The environment is likely affected if any SIMATIC IT product from the affected list is installed and is network-accessible, particularly if authentication anomalies are observed in logs.
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-supplied patches (SIMATIC IT Production Suite V7.1 Upd3 or later; SIMATIC IT UA Discrete Manufacturing V1.2+, V1.3+, V2.3+, V2.4+ as applicable). Implement network segmentation to restrict access to the application and monitor for anomalous authentication patterns.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-13804 — 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-2018-13804 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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