CVE-2018-13811
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 STEP 7 (TIA Portal) (All Versions < V15.1). Password hashes with insufficient computational effort could allow an attacker to access to a project file and reconstruct passwords. The vulnerability could be exploited by an attacker with local access to the project file. No user interaction is required to exploit the vulnerability. The vulnerability could allow the attacker to obtain certain passwords from the project. 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 confidenceSIMATIC STEP 7 (TIA Portal) versions prior to V15.1 use password hashing with insufficient computational effort (likely weak or uniterated algorithms). An attacker with local access to a project file can extract these weak password hashes and perform offline cracking to recover plaintext passwords.
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< 15.1CVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 STEP 7 (TIA Portal) versionOpen the TIA Portal application and navigate to Help > About, or check the installed programs list in Windows Control Panel for the version numberAffected if The version displayed is earlier than V15.1 (e.g., V14, V13, V12, etc.)
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Locate TIA Portal project files on the systemSearch for project directories on local drives or network shares, typically stored with extensions such as .ap15, .ap14, or similar project file formats used by TIA PortalAffected if Project files exist and the TIA Portal version is before V15.1
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Identify if project files contain password-protected elementsOpen project files using TIA Portal and examine the project tree for password-protected blocks, programs, or access protection settings. Check for any password configuration in the project propertiesAffected if Any password protection is configured in the project and the TIA Portal version is before V15.1
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Assess local access exposure to project filesReview file system permissions on project directories to determine if unauthorized local users could read project filesAffected if Project files with passwords are accessible to users beyond the intended authorized users and TIA Portal version is before V15.1
The environment is affected if SIMATIC STEP 7 (TIA Portal) version is earlier than V15.1 AND project files with password protection exist on the system.
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 data15.1
Upgrade to SIMATIC STEP 7 (TIA Portal) V15.1 or later which implements proper password hashing. Additionally, restrict physical and file-system access to project files to limit exposure.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-13811 — 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-2018-13811 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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