CVE-2022-2502
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 exists in the HCI IEC 60870-5-104 function included in certain versions of the RTU500 series product. The vulnerability can only be exploited, if the HCI 60870-5-104 is configured with support for IEC 62351-5 and the CMU contains the license feature ‘Advanced security’ which must be ordered separately. If these preconditions are fulfilled, an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending a specially crafted message to the RTU500, causing the targeted RTU500 CMU to reboot. The vulnerability is caused by a missing input data validation which eventually if exploited causes an internal buffer to overflow in the HCI IEC 60870-5-104 function.
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 confidenceA buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the HCI IEC 60870-5-104 function of ABB RTU500 series products due to missing input data validation. When the IEC 60870-5-104 protocol is configured with IEC 62351-5 security support and the CMU has the 'Advanced security' license, a specially crafted message can trigger a buffer overflow causing the CMU to reboot.
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= 13.3.1= 13.3.2= 13.3.3= 13.4.1CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 the installed firmware versionAccess the RTU500 CMU administrative interface or use the vendor-specific command to retrieve the firmware version (typically found in system information or about section)Affected if The firmware version is one of: 13.3.1, 13.3.2, 13.3.3, or 13.4.1
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Verify IEC 60870-5-104 protocol configurationReview the protocol configuration settings in the RTU500 to determine if the IEC 60870-5-104 protocol has been enabled and configured for useAffected if The IEC 60870-5-104 protocol is actively configured on the system
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Confirm IEC 62351-5 security support is enabledExamine the IEC 60870-5-104 protocol settings to check whether IEC 62351-5 security support has been activatedAffected if IEC 62351-5 security support is turned on in the protocol configuration
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Verify the Advanced security license is presentCheck the license status or entitlements on the CMU to determine if the Advanced security license is installed and activeAffected if The CMU has the Advanced security license enabled
The system is affected only if all four conditions are true: firmware version 13.3.1-13.4.1, IEC 60870-5-104 is configured, IEC 62351-5 security is enabled, and the Advanced security license is present.
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 dataApply vendor-provided patches for the RTU500 series and ensure IEC 62351-5 is properly configured; consider network segmentation to limit exposure to untrusted IEC 60870-5-104 traffic.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-2502 — 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-2022-2502 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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