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OpcApplication · Softing

CVE-2020-14524

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-08-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.47.0 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
Softing Industrial Automation all versions prior to the latest build of version 4.47.0, The affected product is vulnerable to a heap-based buffer overflow, which may allow an attacker to remotely execute arbitrary code.

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

Softing Industrial Automation software contains a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in all versions prior to 4.47.0. The overflow can be exploited remotely without authentication, allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code by sending specially crafted network packets to the affected service.

MitigationUpgrade to version 4.47.0 or later. Given the critical CVSS score and ICS/OT environment, implement network segmentation, restrict external access to affected systems, and coordinate updates during planned maintenance windows to minimize operational impact.

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
OpcApplication
Affected:< 4.47.0

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
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 checks

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

  1. Identify if Softing Opc is installed
    Review installed software on the system. Check for Softing Opc in program files, or run: 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion' on Windows, or 'dpkg -l | grep -i softing' on Linux.
    Affected if Softing Opc appears in the installed software list
  2. Determine the installed version
    Locate the version information for the Softing Opc installation. Common locations include the application itself (Help > About), installation directory readme files, or the Windows registry uninstall key mentioned above.
    Affected if The displayed version number is lower than 4.47.0
  3. Check if the Softing OPC service is running
    On Windows, open Services console and look for 'Softing OPC' or related service, or run 'Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like "*Softing*"}'. On Linux, run 'ps aux | grep -i softing'.
    Affected if The service is found and is currently running
  4. Verify network exposure of the OPC service
    Identify the listening ports used by Softing OPC (typically OPC DA uses port 135, OPC UA uses ports 4840, or check documentation). Use 'netstat -an | grep -E "(135|4840)"' or review firewall rules to determine if these ports are exposed to untrusted networks.
    Affected if The service ports are accessible from untrusted network segments or the internet

A user is affected if Softing Opc is installed with a version lower than 4.47.0 and the service is exposed on 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 4.47.0 or later
Fixed in 4.47.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to version 4.47.0 or later. Given the critical CVSS score and ICS/OT environment, implement network segmentation, restrict external access to affected systems, and coordinate updates during planned maintenance windows to minimize operational impact.

Recommended fix High confidence

4.47.0 (latest build of version 4.47.0)

  1. 1. Identify the current version of Softing Industrial Automation OPC product installed
  2. 2. Download the latest build of version 4.47.0 from the official Softing Industrial Automation support website or contact their customer support
  3. 3. Before upgrading, backup all current configurations and data
  4. 4. Stop any running services or applications that use the OPC product
  5. 5. Install version 4.47.0 following the vendor's installation documentation
  6. 6. Restore the backed-up configurations if needed
  7. 7. Restart the services and verify the installation was successful
  8. 8. Verify the new version is running (should be 4.47.0 or later)

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

Fix this in Opc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
40.0 hours of engineering $7,000
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,200.

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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-2020-14524 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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