CVE-2020-6984
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 · uneditedRockwell Automation MicroLogix 1400 Controllers Series B v21.001 and prior, Series A, all versions, MicroLogix 1100 Controller, all versions, RSLogix 500 Software v12.001 and prior, The cryptographic function utilized to protect the password in MicroLogix is discoverable.
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 confidenceThe MicroLogix 1400 and 1100 controllers, along with RSLogix 500 software, use a weak cryptographic function to protect passwords that can be discovered by an attacker. This allows attackers to recover or reverse-engineer stored passwords, potentially gaining unauthorized access to the controllers and industrial processes.
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 dataall versions<= 21.001all versions<= 12.001CVSS 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 MicroLogix 1400 B firmware versionAccess the controller via RSLogix 500 or the controller's web interface/LCD menu and navigate to the firmware revision information. Compare the version number to the affected range: <= 21.001Affected if The firmware version is 21.001 or lower on a MicroLogix 1400 B model
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Identify MicroLogix 1400 A firmware versionAccess the controller via RSLogix 500 or the controller's web interface/LCD menu and navigate to the firmware revision information. All versions of the A model are affected.Affected if The controller is a MicroLogix 1400 A model with any firmware version
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Identify MicroLogix 1100 firmware versionAccess the controller via RSLogix 500 or the controller's front panel and locate the firmware revision. All versions are affected.Affected if The controller is a MicroLogix 1100 of any firmware version
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Identify RSLogix 500 software versionOpen RSLogix 500, then access Help > About RSLogix 500 or check the program's properties to view the version number. Compare to affected range: <= 12.001Affected if The installed RSLogix 500 version is 12.001 or lower
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Verify password-based authentication is in useReview the controller project file in RSLogix 500 to determine if password protection is configured for controller access, program upload/download, or other security features.Affected if Password protection is enabled on the controller or project without additional compensating controls
Your environment is affected if you operate any MicroLogix 1400 (A any version, B <= 21.001), MicroLogix 1100 (any version), or RSLogix 500 (<= 12.001) and use password-based authentication on these devices.
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 dataApply available firmware updates from Rockwell Automation for affected controllers. Until patches are available, enforce network segmentation, restrict physical and logical access to controllers, and monitor for unauthorized access attempts.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-6984 — 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-2020-6984 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
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