CVE-2020-7585
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 vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC PCS 7 V8.2 and earlier (All versions), SIMATIC PCS 7 V9.0 (All versions < V9.0 SP3), SIMATIC PDM (All versions < V9.2), SIMATIC STEP 7 V5.X (All versions < V5.6 SP2 HF3), SINAMICS STARTER (containing STEP 7 OEM version) (All versions < V5.4 HF2). A DLL Hijacking vulnerability could allow a local attacker to execute code with elevated privileges. The security vulnerability could be exploited by an attacker with local access to the affected systems. Successful exploitation requires user privileges but no user interaction. The vulnerability could allow an attacker to compromise the availability of the system as well as to have access to confidential information.
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 confidenceDLL hijacking vulnerability in multiple Siemens industrial automation software products (SIMATIC PCS 7, SIMATIC PDM, SIMATIC STEP 7, SINAMICS STARTER). A local attacker with standard user privileges can place a malicious DLL in a location where affected applications load libraries, achieving code execution with elevated privileges.
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 versionsall versions< 5.6= 5.6< 5.4= 5.4CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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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Identify installed Siemens industrial softwareCheck Program Files or Program Files (x86) folders for SIMATIC PCS 7, SIMATIC PDM, SIMATIC STEP 7, or SINAMICS STARTER directories. Also check Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Siemens for installed products.Affected if Any of these four products are installed on the system
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Determine SIMATIC STEP 7 versionLocate STEP 7 installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Siemens\Step7) and open the 'info' or 'about' file, or right-click the STEP 7 shortcut and view properties for version information.Affected if Installed version is lower than 5.6, or exactly version 5.6
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Determine SINAMICS STARTER versionLocate STARTER installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Siemens\STARTER) and check the version information in the executable properties, or open STARTER and check Help > About.Affected if Installed version is lower than 5.4, or exactly version 5.4
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Check SIMATIC PCS 7 installationVerify presence of PCS 7 installation by checking for 'PCS 7' folder under Siemens directory in Program Files, or check Windows Services for PCS 7 related services.Affected if Any version of SIMATIC PCS 7 is installed
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Check SIMATIC PDM installationVerify presence of SIMATIC Process Device Manager by checking for 'PDM' folder under Siemens directory in Program Files, or check for PDM entry in Windows Registry or Add/Remove Programs.Affected if Any version of SIMATIC PDM is installed
A user is affected if any of these products are installed and the version falls within the vulnerable ranges: SIMATIC STEP 7 < 5.6 or = 5.6, SINAMICS STARTER < 5.4 or = 5.4, or any version of SIMATIC PCS 7 or SIMATIC PDM.
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 data5.45.6
Apply vendor patches to the affected software versions: SIMATIC PCS 7 to V9.0 SP3 or later, SIMATIC PDM to V9.2 or later, SIMATIC STEP 7 V5.X to V5.6 SP2 HF3 or later, SINAMICS STARTER to V5.4 HF2 or later.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-7585 — 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-2020-7585 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