CVE-2018-7502
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 · uneditedKernel drivers in Beckhoff TwinCAT 3.1 Build 4022.4, TwinCAT 2.11 R3 2259, and TwinCAT 3.1 lack proper validation of user-supplied pointer values. An attacker who is able to execute code on the target may be able to exploit this vulnerability to obtain SYSTEM privileges.
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 confidenceKernel drivers in Beckhoff TwinCAT 3.1 and TwinCAT 2.11 fail to properly validate user-supplied pointer values, allowing local privilege escalation from any code execution context to SYSTEM privileges.
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= 2.11= 3.1= 3.1CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 TwinCAT installationSearch for Beckhoff TwinCAT software on the system - check standard installation directories (C:\Program Files\Beckhoff), Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Beckhoff, or look for TwinCAT services in the Services control panelAffected if TwinCAT software is found on the system
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Determine TwinCAT versionCheck the installed version of TwinCAT - examine version information in the About dialog within TwinCAT engineering tools, or check version details in Windows Programs and FeaturesAffected if Version is exactly 2.11 or exactly 3.1 (note: only these specific versions are affected)
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Check for TwinCAT C++ componentIf using TwinCAT 3.1, verify whether the TwinCAT C++ development environment is installed by looking for TwinCAT C++ related components in Programs and Features or installation directoriesAffected if TwinCAT C++ version 3.1 is installed (this component is also affected)
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Verify kernel driver statusCheck if TwinCAT kernel drivers are loaded and running - open Windows Device Manager and look for TwinCAT kernel drivers under System devices, or use 'sc query' commands to query TwinCAT-related servicesAffected if TwinCAT kernel drivers are loaded and running on the system
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Assess local access exposureDetermine if any untrusted users or processes have local code execution capability on the system - review user accounts with login access, check for non-administrator users, and identify what code execution contexts exist beyond administrator accountsAffected if Any untrusted user or process has local code execution capability on the machine where TwinCAT is installed
A system is affected if TwinCAT version 2.11 or 3.1 (or TwinCAT C++ 3.1) is installed, the kernel drivers are running, AND an attacker can achieve any level of local code execution on that system to trigger the privilege escalation.
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 for TwinCAT 3.1 Build 4022.4 and TwinCAT 2.11 R3 2259; restrict access to systems running TwinCAT to minimize exposure.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,480.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-7502 — 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-2018-7502 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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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.
- 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