CVE-2022-29965
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 · uneditedThe Emerson DeltaV Distributed Control System (DCS) controllers and IO cards through 2022-04-29 misuse passwords. Access to privileged operations on the maintenance port TELNET interface (23/TCP) on M-series and SIS (CSLS/LSNB/LSNG) nodes is controlled by means of utility passwords. These passwords are generated using a deterministic, insecure algorithm using a single seed value composed of a day/hour/minute timestamp with less than 16 bits of entropy. The seed value is fed through a lookup table and a series of permutation operations resulting in three different four-character passwords corresponding to different privilege levels. An attacker can easily reconstruct these passwords and thus gain access to privileged maintenance operations. NOTE: this is different from CVE-2014-2350.
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 confidenceEmerson DeltaV DCS controllers and IO cards (M-series and SIS nodes) use a deterministic, insecure password generation algorithm for the maintenance TELNET interface (port 23/TCP). Passwords are generated from a seed value composed of day/hour/minute timestamp with less than 16 bits of entropy, processed through a lookup table and permutation operations to produce three four-character passwords for different privilege levels. Attackers can easily reconstruct these passwords to gain privileged maintenance access.
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<= 2022-04-29<= 2022-04-29<= 2022-04-29<= 2022-04-29<= 2022-04-29<= 2022-04-29<= 2022-04-29<= 2022-04-29CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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 TELNET service is listening on port 23Scan the target system or network device for open port 23/TCP using a port scanner (e.g., nmap -p 23 <target>) or check local network configurations for services listening on port 23Affected if Port 23/TCP is open and accepting TELNET connections on any Emerson DeltaV controller, M-series IO card, or SIS node interface
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Identify Emerson DeltaV controller firmware versionAccess the DeltaV controller through its management interface or use the controller's built-in diagnostic tools to retrieve the firmware version. Compare the installed version against the affected range (versions <= 2022-04-29)Affected if The controller firmware version is at or below the 2022-04-29 build date for DeltaV Distributed Control System Sq or Sx Controller Firmware
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Identify M-series IO card firmware versionsUse the DeltaV system explorer or IO card management interface to enumerate installed IO cards (SE4002s1t2b6, SE4003s2b4, SE4003s2b5, SE4017p0, SE4017p1) and retrieve their firmware versionsAffected if Any SE4002, SE4003, or SE4017 IO card firmware is at or below the 2022-04-29 version
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Verify maintenance TELNET interface is enabledCheck the controller or IO card configuration to determine if the maintenance TELNET interface (port 23) is enabled. This may be visible in the device network settings, security configuration, or remote access settings within the DeltaV systemAffected if The maintenance TELNET interface is explicitly enabled on the DeltaV controller or IO card, allowing remote administrative access via port 23
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Check network exposure of port 23Review firewall rules, network segmentation policies, and access control lists to determine if port 23 on DeltaV devices is accessible from untrusted networks or the corporate networkAffected if Port 23/TCP on Emerson DeltaV devices is accessible from network segments outside the designated industrial control system (ICS) zone, or from any untrusted/administrative network
A system is affected if any Emerson DeltaV controller, M-series IO card, or SIS node with firmware dated 2022-04-29 or earlier has the maintenance TELNET interface (port 23/TCP) enabled and accessible on the network.
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 dataReplace TELNET with secure remote access (SSH), implement network segmentation/firewall rules to restrict access to port 23/TCP, and coordinate with Emerson for firmware updates that implement cryptographically secure password generation.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 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 $11,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-29965 — 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-2022-29965 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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