CVE-2019-13554
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 · uneditedGE Mark VIe Controller has an unsecured Telnet protocol that may allow a user to create an authenticated session using generic default credentials. GE recommends that users disable the Telnet service.
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 confidenceThe GE Mark VIe Controller ships with Telnet service enabled using default generic credentials, allowing remote attackers to establish authenticated sessions. Telnet transmits all data including credentials in plaintext, making it vulnerable to interception, and combined with default credentials creates an easily exploitable authentication bypass.
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 versionsCVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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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Confirm Telnet service is enabledCheck if port 23 (Telnet) is listening on the controller by running a port scan or checking active network listeners (e.g., netstat -an | grep ':23' or nmap -p 23 <controller-ip>)Affected if Port 23 is open and accepting Telnet connections
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Verify default credentials are still activeAttempt a Telnet login to the controller using known default credentials (consult controller documentation for generic default username/password pairs)Affected if Login succeeds with default or generic credentials without being changed
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Check if Telnet is accessible from untrusted networksReview firewall rules and network segmentation to determine if port 23 is reachable from networks outside the control system enclaveAffected if Telnet port 23 is accessible from less-trusted or external networks
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Inspect network traffic for plaintext Telnet sessionsCapture and analyze network traffic on port 23 using a packet sniffer (e.g., tcpdump, Wireshark) to observe if credentials or control data are transmitted in plaintextAffected if Telnet traffic is observed with plaintext usernames and passwords in the capture
A user is affected if the Telnet service is enabled and accessible, and default generic credentials have not been changed from their factory defaults.
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 dataDisable the Telnet service on the GE Mark VIe Controller and use secure alternative protocols such as SSH for remote access. If Telnet is required for legacy operations, implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-13554 — 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-2019-13554 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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