CVE-2020-6983
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 Moxa PT-7528 series firmware, Version 4.0 or lower, and PT-7828 series firmware, Version 3.9 or lower, the affected products use a hard-coded cryptographic key, which increases the possibility that confidential data can be recovered.
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 confidenceMoxa PT-7528 (firmware ≤4.0) and PT-7828 (firmware ≤3.9) industrial Ethernet switches contain a hard-coded cryptographic key embedded in the firmware. This vulnerability allows an attacker who obtains the key to decrypt confidential data transmitted through or stored on the device, leading to potential exposure of sensitive network communications.
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<= 4.0<= 4.0<= 4.0<= 4.0<= 4.0<= 4.0<= 4.0<= 4.0CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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 the device modelAccess the switch web interface, CLI, or physical label to confirm the device is a Moxa PT-7528 or PT-7828 series industrial Ethernet switchAffected if Device model is PT-7528 or PT-7828
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Check PT-7528 firmware versionNavigate to the web interface System Settings > Firmware Upgrade or use CLI command 'show system-info' to view the current firmware versionAffected if Firmware version is 4.0 or lower on a PT-7528 model
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Check PT-7828 firmware versionNavigate to the web interface System Settings > Firmware Upgrade or use CLI command 'show system-info' to view the current firmware versionAffected if Firmware version is 3.9 or lower on a PT-7828 model
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Verify hard-coded key presenceInspect firmware binary files or configuration backups for embedded cryptographic keys - look for static key strings in firmware dumps or decrypted config filesAffected if A hard-coded or static cryptographic key is found embedded in the firmware or device configuration
The device is affected if it is a PT-7528 with firmware ≤4.0 or a PT-7828 with firmware ≤3.9, as these versions contain the hard-coded cryptographic key vulnerability.
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 PT-7528 firmware to version 4.1 or higher and PT-7828 firmware to version 3.10 or higher to remove the hard-coded key. If immediate patching is not feasible, implement network segmentation and monitor for unauthorized access attempts.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $3,488.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-6983 — 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-2020-6983 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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- 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