CVE-2022-34838
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 · uneditedStoring Passwords in a Recoverable Format vulnerability in ABB Zenon 8.20 allows an attacker who successfully exploit the vulnerability may add or alter data points and corresponding attributes. Once such engineering data is used the data visualization will be altered for the end user.
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 confidenceABB Zenon 8.20 stores passwords in a recoverable format rather than using proper cryptographic hashing. This allows an attacker with access to the password storage to reverse the encoding and recover plaintext passwords, which can then be used to authenticate and modify engineering data points and their attributes, altering data visualization for end users.
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<= 8.20CVSS 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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/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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Check installed Zenon versionLocate the Zenon installation directory and check the version information, typically found in the program's properties or in the Zenon System Management interface under About or Version InfoAffected if Version is 8.20 or lower (any version up to and including 8.20)
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Locate password storage locationIdentify where Zenon stores user credentials - typically in project files, configuration databases, or user management files within the Zenon installation or project directoriesAffected if Password storage files exist in the Zenon environment
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Examine password storage formatOpen or inspect the password storage file using a hex editor or text viewer to examine how passwords are encoded - look for patterns indicating base64, simple encryption, or other reversible encoding rather than cryptographic hash stringsAffected if Passwords appear as reversible encoded strings (e.g., base64, simple encryption) instead of salted hash strings like bcrypt, Argon2, or PBKDF2 formats
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Verify hash function usageCheck if the password storage mechanism uses recognized cryptographic hashing functions by examining the stored password format - proper hashes appear as fixed-length alphanumeric strings with salting indicators, not as easily decodable stringsAffected if Passwords are stored without proper cryptographic hashing (no salt + hash using bcrypt/Argon2/PBKDF2)
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Test password recoveryIf authorized and in a test environment, attempt to decode a known password using common reversible methods (base64 decode, simple XOR, or known weak encryption) to confirm the vulnerabilityAffected if A stored password can be successfully reversed to plaintext using basic decoding methods
The environment is affected if ABB Zenon version 8.20 or lower is installed and passwords are stored in a reversible (non-hashed) format that can be decoded back to plaintext.
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 dataImplement proper password hashing using strong, salted cryptographic functions (e.g., bcrypt, Argon2, PBKDF2) to replace the reversible password storage, and rotate any exposed credentials.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation16.0 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 $9,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-34838 — 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-2022-34838 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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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