CVE-2019-13559
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 is shipped with pre-configured hard-coded credentials that may allow root-user access to the controller. A limited application of the affected product may ship without setup and configuration instructions immediately available to the end user. The bulk of controllers go into applications requiring the GE commissioning engineer to change default configurations during the installation process. GE recommends that users reset controller passwords during installation in the operating environment.
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 confidenceGE Mark VIe Controllers ship with pre-configured hard-coded credentials that provide root-user access to the controller. This is a default credential vulnerability where the same hardcoded passwords are known to anyone with product documentation, allowing unauthorized administrative access to affected controllers.
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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/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 GE Mark VIe controllers in your environmentReview network documentation, asset inventories, or scan for devices responding on typical industrial protocols (Ethernet/IP, OPC UA) that identify themselves as GE Mark VIe Control SystemsAffected if GE Mark VIe Controllers are present on the network
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Check if default hardcoded credentials are still in useAttempt authentication to the controller using known default credentials documented in the product manual (root-level access with documented hardcoded passwords). Test both serial console and network-based access methods (SSH, telnet if enabled).Affected if Authentication succeeds with default credentials, indicating they have not been changed
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Verify if remote access interfaces are enabledCheck the controller configuration for enabled remote access services (SSH, remote console, web interfaces) that would accept the hardcoded credentials from a network location.Affected if Remote access is enabled and accepts the hardcoded credentials
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Confirm root-level access capabilityOnce authenticated, verify that the compromised account provides root or administrator-level privileges on the controller.Affected if The default credentials provide root or administrator access to the controller system
Your environment is affected if GE Mark VIe controllers are present and the default hardcoded credentials have not been changed from their documented defaults, allowing unauthorized root access.
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 dataGE recommends resetting all controller passwords to unique, strong values during the installation process. Users should identify all affected controllers in their environment and change default credentials before production deployment.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-13559 — 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-2019-13559 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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