Symphony \+ HistorianApplication · Abb

CVE-2020-24678

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-12-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
An authenticated user might execute malicious code under the user context and take control of the system. S+ Operations or S+ Historian database is affected by multiple vulnerabilities such as the possibility to allow remote authenticated users to gain high privileges.

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 confidence

Authenticated users can execute malicious code under their user context in S+ Operations or S+ Historian database software, potentially achieving system-level control through privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow remote authenticated users to gain elevated privileges.

MitigationRestrict authentication access through least-privilege principles, implement network segmentation to limit exposure, apply vendor security updates when available, and monitor for anomalous authenticated session behavior indicating privilege abuse.

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
Symphony \+ HistorianApplication
Affected:= 3.0= 3.1
Symphony \+ OperationsApplication
Affected:= 1.1= 2.0= 2.1= 3.0= 3.1= 3.2= 3.3

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 installed ABB Symphony+ products
    Check for ABB Symphony+ Historian or Operations software on the system by examining installed programs (Windows: Registry key HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall or Programs and Features; Linux: package manager listings or /opt directory for ABB software)
    Affected if Either Symphony+ Historian or Operations software is present on the system
  2. Determine Symphony+ Historian version
    Locate the Historian installation directory (commonly C:\Program Files\ABB\SymphonyPlus\Historian or /opt/abb/symphonyplus/historian) and check for a version file, or run the product's about/version information command if available
    Affected if Version is 3.0 or 3.1
  3. Determine Symphony+ Operations version
    Locate the Operations installation directory (commonly C:\Program Files\ABB\SymphonyPlus\Operations or /opt/abb/symphonyplus/operations) and check for a version file, or run the product's about/version information command if available
    Affected if Version is 1.1, 2.0, 2.1, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, or 3.3
  4. Verify authentication is enabled
    Check if user authentication is configured for the Symphony+ web interface or client services. Review authentication settings in the product configuration files or management console
    Affected if User authentication is enabled and user accounts exist in the system (authenticated user access is required for exploitation)

You are affected if ABB Symphony+ Historian version 3.0 or 3.1, OR Symphony+ Operations versions 1.1 through 3.3 are installed AND user authentication is enabled, allowing authenticated users to potentially execute code and escalate privileges.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Restrict authentication access through least-privilege principles, implement network segmentation to limit exposure, apply vendor security updates when available, and monitor for anomalous authenticated session behavior indicating privilege abuse.

Fix this in Symphony \+ Historian Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
42.0 hours of engineering $7,360
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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-2020-24678 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
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