dbcve.org
RslinxApplication · Rockwellautomation

CVE-2018-14829

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-09-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.00.01 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit 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
Rockwell Automation RSLinx Classic Versions 4.00.01 and prior. This vulnerability may allow a remote threat actor to intentionally send a malformed CIP packet to Port 44818, causing the software application to stop responding and crash. This vulnerability also has the potential to exploit a buffer overflow condition, which may allow the threat actor to remotely execute arbitrary code.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-121

Data overflows a fixed-size buffer allocated on the stack, overwriting adjacent stack memory — including saved return addresses — which is the classic route to redirecting execution into attacker-supplied code. Crafted input is all it takes. Remediation is strict length checks, safe bounded string and memory functions, and modern stack-protection mitigations.

General guidance for the stack-based buffer overflow class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
RslinxApplication
Affected:<= 4.00.01

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

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 4.00.01
Recommended fix Moderate confidence

RSLinx Classic version > 4.00.01 (verify specific fixed version on Rockwell Automation's support site)

  1. 1. Identify the current version of RSLinx Classic installed by opening the software and checking 'Help' > 'About RSLinx Classic'
  2. 2. Navigate to the Rockwell Automation Product Compatibility and Download Center (PCDC) at https://compatibility.rockwellautomation.com/
  3. 3. Search for RSLinx Classic and check for versions newer than 4.00.01
  4. 4. Download the latest available version (verifying it addresses CVE-2018-14829)
  5. 5. Create a backup of current RSLinx configuration files if possible
  6. 6. Install the updated version on a test system first to verify compatibility with your PLC environment
  7. 7. Deploy the updated version to production systems
Caveat Test thoroughly in a non-production environment before deploying, as newer versions may have changes in communication protocols or licensing

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

We can identify the exact fixed release, upgrade, and verify it in staging — typical engagement from $2,300. Get the upgrade done

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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-2018-14829 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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