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Simatic Hmi Comfort Panels FirmwareOperating system · Siemens

CVE-2019-6572

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-05-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC HMI Comfort Panels 4" - 22" (All versions < V15.1 Update 1), SIMATIC HMI Comfort Outdoor Panels 7" & 15" (All versions < V15.1 Update 1), SIMATIC HMI KTP Mobile Panels KTP400F, KTP700, KTP700F, KTP900 und KTP900F (All versions < V15.1 Update 1), SIMATIC WinCC Runtime Advanced (All versions < V15.1 Update 1), SIMATIC WinCC Runtime Professional (All versions < V15.1 Update 1), SIMATIC WinCC (TIA Portal) (All versions < V15.1 Update 1), SIMATIC HMI Classic Devices (TP/MP/OP/MP Mobile Panel) (All versions). The affected device offered SNMP read and write capacities with a publicly know hardcoded community string. The security vulnerability could be exploited by an attacker with network access to the affected device. Successful exploitation requires no system privileges and no user interaction. An attacker could use the vulnerability to compromise confidentiality and integrity of the affected system. At the time of advisory publication no public exploitation of this security vulnerability was known.

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 confidence

The vulnerability involves hardcoded SNMP community strings in SIMATIC HMI panels and WinCC software. SNMP community strings serve as simple authentication, and when hardcoded and publicly known, any attacker with network access can read/write to the device, compromising confidentiality and integrity of the industrial system.

MitigationUpdate all affected devices and software to V15.1 Update 1 or later. Additionally, restrict network access to affected devices and implement network segmentation to limit SNMP exposure.

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
Simatic Hmi Comfort Panels FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 15.1
Simatic Hmi Comfort Outdoor Panels FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 15.1
Simatic Hmi Ktp Mobile Panels Ktp400f FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 15.1
Simatic Hmi Ktp Mobile Panels Ktp700 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 15.1
Simatic Hmi Ktp Mobile Panels Ktp700f FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 15.1
Simatic Hmi Ktp Mobile Panels Ktp900 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 15.1
Simatic Hmi Ktp Mobile Panels Ktp900f FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 15.1
Simatic Wincc \(tia Portal\)Application
Affected:< 15.1

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
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the product model
    Locate the HMI panel model number (e.g., Simatic HMI Comfort, Ktp700f) or WinCC installation. For HMI panels, this is usually on the device label or in the project settings under 'Device settings'. For WinCC, check in SIMATIC Manager or TIA Portal under 'Software'.
    Affected if The product is one of the listed affected models: Simatic HMI Comfort Panels, Comfort Outdoor Panels, or Ktp Mobile Panels (Ktp400f, Ktp700, Ktp700f, Ktp900, Ktp900f), or WinCC (TIA Portal).
  2. Check firmware or software version
    For HMI panels: In TIA Portal, go to 'Online access' -> select the device -> 'Online & diagnostics' -> check 'General' for the firmware version. For WinCC: In TIA Portal, go to the project properties or the 'Information' button in the project view to see the WinCC version.
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 15.1 (e.g., 14.x, 13.x, etc.).
  3. Verify if SNMP is enabled
    For HMI panels: In TIA Portal, open the device configuration, expand 'Ethernet interfaces', select the interface, and check the 'SNMP' settings in the properties. Alternatively, access the HMI web interface or use the 'Online & diagnostics' function. Look for SNMP 'Enable' status.
    Affected if SNMP is enabled and configured on the device or software.
  4. Inspect SNMP community string configuration
    In TIA Portal, under the same SNMP settings, check the configured community strings. Common default strings include 'public', 'private', or 'siemens'. Note that hardcoded strings cannot be changed without a firmware update in vulnerable versions.
    Affected if The community string is set to a known default value (such as 'public', 'private', or vendor defaults) and the device version is below 15.1.

You are affected if your HMI panel or WinCC installation is version below 15.1 AND SNMP is enabled with default community strings accessible over the network.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 15.1 or later
Fixed in 15.1
Interim mitigation

Update all affected devices and software to V15.1 Update 1 or later. Additionally, restrict network access to affected devices and implement network segmentation to limit SNMP exposure.

Recommended fix High confidence

V15.1 Update 1 or later for SIMATIC HMI Comfort Panels, Comfort Outdoor Panels, KTP Mobile Panels, and WinCC (TIA Portal)

  1. Obtain the V15.1 Update 1 or later version of the affected Siemens SIMATIC software from the official Siemens support portal (support.industry.siemens.com)
  2. For HMI Panels: Download the appropriate firmware update package for your specific panel model (Comfort Panel, Comfort Outdoor Panel, or KTP Mobile Panel)
  3. For WinCC (TIA Portal): Download and install SIMATIC WinCC Runtime Advanced, WinCC Runtime Professional, or WinCC (TIA Portal) version V15.1 Update 1 or later
  4. Backup the current project configuration and panel settings before performing the update
  5. Apply the firmware/software update following Siemens installation instructions for your specific device
  6. After updating, verify that SNMP community strings have been changed from the hardcoded default to unique, secure values
  7. Confirm the update was successful and the device is functioning properly
Caveat Verify project compatibility with V15.1 Update 1 before upgrading production systems; review Siemens release notes for any breaking changes

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

Fix this in Simatic Hmi Comfort Panels Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation16.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
60.0 hours of engineering $10,760
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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-2019-6572 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data