CVE-2020-6990
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 key utilized to help protect the account password is hard coded into the RSLogix 500 binary file. An attacker could identify cryptographic keys and use it for further cryptographic attacks that could ultimately lead to a remote attacker gaining unauthorized access to the controller.
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 RSLogix 500 software contains a hardcoded cryptographic key embedded in its binary that is used to protect account passwords for MicroLogix 1100 and 1400 controllers. An attacker can extract this key from the software binary and use it to decrypt or bypass authentication, potentially gaining unauthorized remote access to the affected controllers.
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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed RSLogix 500 versionOpen RSLogix 500 and navigate to Help > About, or check the executable properties of RSLogix500.exe in the installation directoryAffected if The version is 12.001 or lower
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Identify MicroLogix 1400 B controllers on the networkUse network scanning tools or check your industrial network inventory for MicroLogix 1400 B controllers. Access the controller via RSLogix 500 or web interface to view firmware versionAffected if Controller firmware version is 21.001 or lower
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Identify MicroLogix 1100 and 1400 A controllers on the networkScan the network for MicroLogix 1100 and 1400 A controllers using network discovery tools or controller enumeration, then query each controller for its firmware versionAffected if Any MicroLogix 1100 or MicroLogix 1400 A controllers are present on the network (all versions are affected)
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Check if controller password protection is enabledConnect to each affected MicroLogix controller using RSLogix 500 and verify if security/password features are configured under the controller security settingsAffected if Password protection or authentication is enabled on the controller, as the hardcoded key protects these credentials
You are affected if RSLogix 500 version 12.001 or lower is installed, OR any MicroLogix 1100, MicroLogix 1400 A, or MicroLogix 1400 B (firmware <=21.001) controllers with password protection are present on your network.
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 RSLogix 500 to a version beyond v12.001 and update controller firmware to patched versions. Change any passwords that may have been protected by the compromised cryptographic key.
- Consultation12.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 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 $11,520.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-6990 — 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-2020-6990 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
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