CVE-2020-6992
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 · uneditedA local privilege escalation vulnerability has been identified in the GE Digital CIMPLICITY HMI/SCADA product v10.0 and prior. If exploited, this vulnerability could allow an adversary to modify the system, leading to the arbitrary execution of code. This vulnerability is only exploitable if an attacker has access to an authenticated session. GE Digital CIMPLICITY v11.0, released January 2020, contains mitigation for this local privilege escalation vulnerability. GE Digital recommends all users upgrade to GE CIMPLICITY v11.0 or newer.
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 confidenceThis is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in GE Digital CIMPLICITY HMI/SCADA v10.0 and prior that allows an authenticated attacker to modify the system and execute arbitrary code. The vulnerability requires local access with an authenticated session, indicating the attacker must first obtain valid credentials to the system.
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<= 10.0CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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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Verify GE CIMPLICITY is installedSearch for CIMPLICITY installation directories or check Windows registry for CIMPLICITY installation keys (typically under HKLM\SOFTWARE\GE Digital or similar locations). Look for folders named 'CIMPLICITY' in Program Files or Program Files (x86).Affected if CIMPLICITY is found installed on the system
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Determine installed CIMPLICITY versionLocate version information in the installation directory, typically in a file named 'about.dll', 'version.txt', or within the project's .gpj files. The version may also be visible in the CIMPLICITY project properties or in the SMC (Server Manager Console) under the General tab.Affected if The installed version is 10.0 or any version prior to 10.0
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Confirm CIMPLICITY services are runningOpen Windows Services (services.msc) and check if CIMPLICITY-related services such as 'CIMPLICITY', 'CimService', or 'GE CIMPLICITY' are present and running. These services handle the HMI/SCADA functionality.Affected if CIMPLICITY services are running and the version is 10.0 or earlier
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Verify authenticated user access scopeCheck if user accounts with permissions to access the CIMPLICITY project exist on the system. Review Windows local users/groups or domain accounts that have been granted access to CIMPLICITY projects via the user database or Windows authentication.Affected if There are valid authenticated user accounts that can log into the CIMPLICITY system locally
The environment is affected if GE CIMPLICITY v10.0 or prior is installed and running with accessible authenticated user accounts, as the privilege escalation requires local access with valid credentials.
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 dataUpgrade to GE CIMPLICITY v11.0 or newer, released January 2020, which contains the mitigation for this vulnerability.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-6992 — 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-2020-6992 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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