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Simatic Pcs 7Application · Siemens

CVE-2021-40363

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-02-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.4 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click Patch available

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 · unedited
A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC PCS 7 V8.2 (All versions), SIMATIC PCS 7 V9.0 (All versions), SIMATIC PCS 7 V9.1 (All versions < V9.1 SP1), SIMATIC WinCC V15 and earlier (All versions < V15 SP1 Update 7), SIMATIC WinCC V16 (All versions < V16 Update 5), SIMATIC WinCC V17 (All versions < V17 Update 2), SIMATIC WinCC V17 (All versions <= V17 Update 4), SIMATIC WinCC V7.4 (All versions < V7.4 SP1 Update 19), SIMATIC WinCC V7.5 (All versions < V7.5 SP2 Update 6). The affected component stores the credentials of a local system account in a potentially publicly accessible project file using an outdated cipher algorithm. An attacker may use this to brute force the credentials and take over the system.

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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
Simatic Pcs 7Application
Affected:<= 8.2= 9.0= 9.1
Simatic WinccApplication
Affected:< 7.4= 7.4= 7.5= 13= 14.0.1= 15= 15.1= 16= 17

CVSS 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

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 7.4 or later
Fixed in 7.4
Vendor patch cert-portal.siemens.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to the minimum fixed version for your product line: PCS 7 V9.1 SP1, WinCC V15 SP1 Update 7, WinCC V16 Update 5, WinCC V17 Update 5, WinCC V7.4 SP1 Update 19, or WinCC V7.5 SP2 Update 6

  1. 1. Identify the exact installed version of SIMATIC PCS 7 or WinCC using the Siemens App Arena or project properties
  2. 2. Download the corresponding security patch from Siemens Cert Portal: https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-914168.pdf
  3. 3. For SIMATIC PCS 7 V9.1: Upgrade to V9.1 SP1 or later
  4. 4. For SIMATIC WinCC V15: Apply V15 SP1 Update 7 or later
  5. 5. For SIMATIC WinCC V16: Apply V16 Update 5 or later
  6. 6. For SIMATIC WinCC V17: Apply V17 Update 5 or later (addresses both <V17 Update 2 and <=V17 Update 4)
  7. 7. For SIMATIC WinCC V7.4: Apply V7.4 SP1 Update 19 or later
  8. 8. For SIMATIC WinCC V7.5: Apply V7.5 SP2 Update 6 or later
Caveat Review Siemens patch release notes for any configuration changes or compatibility considerations before applying

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,950. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-40363 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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