CVE-2019-16673
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered on Weidmueller IE-SW-VL05M 3.6.6 Build 16102415, IE-SW-VL08MT 3.5.2 Build 16102415, and IE-SW-PL10M 3.3.16 Build 16102416 devices. Passwords are stored in cleartext and can be read by anyone with access to the device.
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 · moderate confidenceWeidmueller IE-SW-VL05M, IE-SW-VL08MT, and IE-SW-PL10M industrial network switches store user passwords in cleartext within the device firmware or configuration. Anyone with device access (local or remote) can retrieve these credentials without authentication bypass or cryptographic attack.
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<= 3.3.4<= 3.3.4<= 3.4.4<= 3.4.4<= 3.4.4<= 3.4.4<= 3.4.4<= 3.4.4CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 the device modelAccess the device web interface, CLI, or physical label to confirm the exact model number (e.g., IE-SW-PL09M, IE-SW-PL09MT, IE-SW-PL18M, IE-SW-PL18MT, or variants with 5GC 4GT, 2GC 16TX, 2GC14TX2SC, 2GC14TX2ST suffixes)Affected if The device is any of the Weidmueller IE-SW-PL09M, PL09MT, PL18M, PL18MT series models
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Determine the installed firmware versionLog into the device web interface (usually via HTTP/HTTPS) or CLI and locate the firmware version in the system information or status pageAffected if Firmware version is <= 3.3.4 for PL09M/PL09MT models, or <= 3.4.4 for PL18M/PL18MT models
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Export the device configurationAccess the device configuration backup or export function (typically in the administration or settings menu of the web interface, or via TFTP/CLI export command) and retrieve the configuration fileAffected if A configuration file can be exported from the device
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Inspect configuration for cleartext passwordsOpen the exported configuration file in a text editor and search for password fields or user account entries. Check if passwords appear in plain text rather than as hashesAffected if User passwords are visible in cleartext within the configuration file or firmware image
Your device is affected if it is a Weidmueller IE-SW-PL09M/PL09MT (firmware <= 3.3.4) or PL18M/PL18MT (firmware <= 3.4.4) and the configuration file contains plaintext passwords.
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 dataContact Weidmueller for patched firmware that implements proper password hashing (e.g., salted bcrypt or PBKDF2). Until patched, minimize device exposure to untrusted users and monitor for unauthorized access.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-16673 — 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-2019-16673 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