CVE-2020-15798
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 · uneditedA vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC HMI Comfort Panels (incl. SIPLUS variants) (All versions < V16 Update 3a), SIMATIC HMI KTP Mobile Panels (All versions < V16 Update 3a), SINAMICS GH150 (All versions), SINAMICS GL150 (with option X30) (All versions), SINAMICS GM150 (with option X30) (All versions), SINAMICS SH150 (All versions), SINAMICS SL150 (All versions), SINAMICS SM120 (All versions), SINAMICS SM150 (All versions), SINAMICS SM150i (All versions). Affected devices with enabled telnet service do not require authentication for this service. This could allow a remote attacker to gain full access to the device. (ZDI-CAN-12046)
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 analysisA sensitive function is reachable with no authentication at all, so anyone who finds the endpoint can use it. These are routinely discovered by automated scanning. The fix is to require and enforce authentication on every privileged path, with no exceptions left open.
General guidance for the missing authentication class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
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< 16.0= 16.0< 16.0= 16.0all versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall 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
- 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
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 · scoped16.0
V16 Update 3a for SIMATIC HMI Comfort Panels and KTP Mobile Panels; vendor patch SSA-752103 for SINAMICS drives
- 1. Identify the exact model and current firmware version of the affected Siemens device
- 2. For SIMATIC HMI Comfort Panels and KTP Mobile Panels: Upgrade firmware to V16 Update 3a or later (as specified in vendor advisory)
- 3. For SINAMICS GH150, GL150, GM150, SH150, SL150, SM150 devices: Apply vendor mitigations from SSA-752103 (available at cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-752103.pdf)
- 4. As a compensating control, disable the telnet service on affected devices if not required for operations
- 5. After applying update/patch, verify that telnet service now requires authentication
- 6. Restrict network access to telnet ports (TCP 23) to trusted IP addresses only
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-15798 — 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-2020-15798 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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