CVE-2020-6971
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 · uneditedIn Emerson ValveLink v12.0.264 to v13.4.118, a vulnerability in the ValveLink software may allow a local, unprivileged, trusted insider to escalate privileges due to insecure configuration parameters.
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 confidenceEmerson ValveLINK software versions 12.0.264 through 13.4.118 contains insecure configuration parameters that allow a local, unprivileged user with trusted insider access to escalate privileges to higher levels (likely administrator or SYSTEM). This is a local privilege escalation vulnerability requiring physical or logical access to the system where ValveLINK is installed.
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>= 12.0.264, <= 13.4.118CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed ValveLINK versionOpen the ValveLINK software and navigate to Help > About, or check the program files directory for version metadata. Alternatively, check Windows Add/Remove Programs for the installed version number.Affected if The version is 12.0.264 or higher, up to and including 13.4.118
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Locate ValveLINK configuration filesSearch the ValveLINK installation directory (commonly under Program Files or Program Files x86) for configuration files with names containing terms like config, settings, permissions, users, or access.Affected if Configuration files exist and contain user permission or access control settings
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Review user permission configuration parametersOpen the identified configuration files and examine parameters controlling user roles, privileges, or access levels. Look for settings that define who can modify permissions or execute privileged operations.Affected if Configuration parameters allow unprivileged users to modify access controls or do not restrict privilege escalation
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Check ValveLINK service account contextOpen Windows Services (services.msc), locate the ValveLINK service, and examine the Log On As account. Also check file/folder permissions on the ValveLINK installation directory.Affected if The service runs as an administrator or SYSTEM account, or unprivileged users have write access to configuration files
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Assess physical and logical access controlsDetermine whether users with trusted insider access exist who could log into the system locally or via remote access, and whether those users have the ability to read or modify ValveLINK configuration files.Affected if Unprivileged users with trusted insider access can reach the system where ValveLINK is installed
You are affected if ValveLINK version is between 12.0.264 and 13.4.118 and unprivileged users can access or modify the software's permission configuration files.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpdate ValveLINK to a version beyond v13.4.118 that contains the security fix, or review and harden the configuration parameters controlling user permissions and access controls within the software.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,872.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-6971 — 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-2020-6971 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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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.
- 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