CVE-2020-8474
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 · uneditedWeak Registry permissions in ABB System 800xA Base allow low privileged users to read and modify registry settings related to control system functionality, allowing an authenticated attacker to cause system functions to stop or malfunction.
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 confidenceThe vulnerability exists in ABB System 800xA Base where registry permissions are improperly configured, allowing low privileged users to read and modify registry settings that control system functionality. An authenticated attacker can exploit these weak permissions to manipulate control system registry keys, causing system functions to stop or malfunction.
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<= 6.0.0CVSS 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
- 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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Confirm ABB 800xA Base installationLook for ABB 800xA Base in the system by checking Program Files or the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\ABB or checking services named with '800xA' or 'Advant'Affected if ABB 800xA Base System is present on the machine
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Determine installed versionCheck the version of ABB 800xA Base in Add/Remove Programs, or query the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\ABB\800xA\Version if it exists, or check the installed software inventoryAffected if The installed version is 6.0.0 or lower
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Identify control system registry keysEnumerate registry keys under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services that control ABB 800xA system services and functionality, or keys under HKLM\SOFTWARE\ABB relevant to system operationAffected if Registry keys related to ABB 800xA system control exist on the system
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Inspect registry permissions on control keysUse regedit.exe to view permissions on identified ABB registry keys, right-click the key, select Permissions, and verify which users and groups have Read and Write access. Alternatively, use icacls from an elevated command prompt on registry paths like HKLM\SOFTWARE\ABB to list all granted permissionsAffected if Users without administrative privileges are granted Write or Full Control permissions to registry keys controlling 800xA system functionality
A user is affected if they have ABB 800xA Base System version 6.0.0 or lower installed AND low-privileged (non-admin) user accounts have been granted Write or Modify permissions to registry keys that control 800xA system services or functionality.
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 dataRemediate by correcting registry permissions to restrict read and write access to only administrative or system-level accounts, following ABB guidance for secure 800xA configuration.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $6,144.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-8474 — 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-2020-8474 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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