Simatic Et 200sp Open Controller FirmwareOperating system · Siemens

CVE-2020-15796

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-12-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 20.8 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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 ET 200SP Open Controller (incl. SIPLUS variants) (V20.8), SIMATIC S7-1500 Software Controller (V20.8). The web server of the affected products contains a vulnerability that could allow a remote attacker to trigger a denial-of-service condition by sending a specially crafted HTTP request.

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

A vulnerability in the web server of SIMATIC ET 200SP Open Controller and SIMATIC S7-1500 Software Controller (V20.8) allows remote attackers to cause a denial-of-service condition via specially crafted HTTP requests. The attack targets the HTTP service and can render the web interface unavailable.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware/software updates (V20.8 patch or later) following Siemens guidance. If the web server is not required, disable it or isolate the device via network segmentation to reduce 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 Et 200sp Open Controller FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 20.8
Simatic S7 1500 Software Controller FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 20.8

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 the device model
    Locate the SIMATIC ET 200SP Open Controller or SIMATIC S7-1500 Software Controller in your asset inventory or physically on the device label. Confirm it is one of the affected product families.
    Affected if The device is a SIMATIC ET 200SP Open Controller or SIMATIC S7-1500 Software Controller
  2. Check the firmware version
    Access the device management interface or use the appropriate Siemens engineering software (such as TIA Portal) to retrieve the installed firmware version. Compare it against the affected range.
    Affected if The installed firmware version is 20.8 or lower
  3. Verify if HTTP web server is enabled
    Check the device web server configuration settings in the device's web management interface or in the engineering project settings. Look for HTTP/HTTPS web server enable status.
    Affected if The HTTP web server is enabled and accessible on the network

The device is affected if it is a SIMATIC ET 200SP Open Controller or SIMATIC S7-1500 Software Controller with firmware version 20.8 or lower and the HTTP web server is currently enabled.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 20.8
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied firmware/software updates (V20.8 patch or later) following Siemens guidance. If the web server is not required, disable it or isolate the device via network segmentation to reduce exposure.

Fix this in Simatic Et 200sp Open Controller Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,480
Get the upgrade done

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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-2020-15796 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