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Eds G516e FirmwareOperating system · Moxa

CVE-2020-6981

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 5.2 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
In Moxa EDS-G516E Series firmware, Version 5.2 or lower, an attacker may gain access to the system without proper authentication.

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

Authentication bypass vulnerability in Moxa EDS-G516E Series industrial Ethernet switches running firmware version 5.2 or lower. An unauthenticated remote attacker can gain full administrative access to the device, potentially compromising the entire network segment.

MitigationUpgrade Moxa EDS-G516E Series firmware to a version higher than 5.2. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to trusted IPs and monitor for unauthorized access attempts.

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
Eds G516e FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 5.2
Eds 510e FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 5.2

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 the device model
    Log into the switch web interface or CLI and locate the device information page to confirm the exact model number (EDS-G516E or EDS-510E)
    Affected if Device is NOT one of these two models
  2. Determine the installed firmware version
    Access the switch management interface and navigate to System Settings or About page to view the firmware version number
    Affected if Firmware version is 5.2 or lower
  3. Verify remote management is enabled
    Check the switch network settings to determine if the web interface or management interfaces are accessible remotely (not restricted to localhost or local subnet only)
    Affected if Remote management is enabled and the device is accessible over the network
  4. Review admin accounts for unauthorized changes
    Inspect the user account configuration in the switch management interface to check for any unexpected or unknown administrator accounts that may indicate exploitation
    Affected if Unexpected admin accounts exist that were not created by legitimate administrators

A user is affected if they have a Moxa EDS-G516E or EDS-510E switch running firmware version 5.2 or lower with remote management access 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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 5.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Moxa EDS-G516E Series firmware to a version higher than 5.2. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to trusted IPs and monitor for unauthorized access attempts.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Firmware version > 5.2 (check Moxa official support for exact fixed release)

  1. 1. Identify the current firmware version of the Moxa EDS-G516E or EDS-510e device by accessing the device web interface or using the console/CLI
  2. 2. Download the latest firmware version from the official Moxa support website (www.moxa.com) for your specific device model
  3. 3. Before upgrading, backup the current device configuration to ensure settings can be restored if needed
  4. 4. Access the device management interface and navigate to the firmware upgrade section
  5. 5. Upload and install the new firmware file, ensuring uninterrupted power during the upgrade process
  6. 6. After the upgrade completes, verify the device is operational and the firmware version has been updated
  7. 7. Restore the previously backed-up configuration if needed
  8. 8. Change all default credentials and any hardcoded passwords immediately after the upgrade as a security best practice
Caveat Review release notes for any configuration or feature changes between current and new firmware version

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

Fix this in Eds G516e Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
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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-2020-6981 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