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Kinetix 5500 FirmwareOperating system · Rockwellautomation

CVE-2023-1834

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-05-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
Rockwell Automation was made aware that Kinetix 5500 drives, manufactured between May 2022 and January 2023, and are running v7.13 may have the telnet and FTP ports open by default.  This could potentially allow attackers unauthorized access to the device through the open ports.

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 confidence

Kinetix 5500 drives manufactured between May 2022 and January 2023 running firmware v7.13 have telnet and FTP ports open by default, allowing remote attackers to potentially gain unauthorized access to the device. Both telnet and FTP transmit authentication credentials in plaintext, making this a critical exposure.

MitigationDisable telnet and FTP services on affected drives if not required for operations, or implement network segmentation/firewall rules to restrict access to these ports from untrusted networks.

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
Kinetix 5500 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 7.13

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the firmware version of the Kinetix 5500 drive
    Access the drive through Rockwell Studio 5000, RSLinx Classic, or the built-in web interface (if enabled) and retrieve the firmware version from the device properties or system information. Compare the installed version to the affected version 7.13.
    Affected if The firmware version is exactly 7.13
  2. Check if telnet service is accessible on the drive
    Use a network port scanner (such as nmap) or telnet client to attempt a connection to the device on port 23 (telnet). Alternatively, check network firewall rules or switch port configurations to see if outbound/inbound traffic on port 23 is allowed.
    Affected if Port 23 (telnet) is open or responds to connection attempts on the device IP
  3. Check if FTP service is accessible on the drive
    Use an FTP client to attempt a connection to the device on port 21 (FTP), or use a network port scanner to verify port 21 is listening. Check if anonymous or any FTP login is possible.
    Affected if Port 21 (FTP) is open or responds to connection attempts on the device IP
  4. Verify the device manufacturing date falls within the affected window
    Locate the physical device label or check device documentation, RSLinx device tree, or boot-up screen for the manufacturing date or serial number. The affected window is May 2022 through January 2023.
    Affected if The drive was manufactured between May 2022 and January 2023, regardless of current firmware version

A device is affected if it is a Kinetix 5500 drive with firmware version 7.13 AND has telnet (port 23) or FTP (port 21) services accessible, or if it falls within the May 2022 to January 2023 manufacturing window with these services enabled.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Disable telnet and FTP services on affected drives if not required for operations, or implement network segmentation/firewall rules to restrict access to these ports from untrusted networks.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Kinetix 5500 firmware version newer than 7.13 (consult Rockwell Automation for exact fixed release)

  1. Identify all affected Kinetix 5500 drives running firmware version 7.13 in the industrial environment
  2. Consult Rockwell Automation's official support portal (rockwellautomation.custhelp.com) for the latest firmware version that addresses CVE-2023-1834
  3. Obtain the firmware upgrade package from Rockwell Automation's official channels only
  4. Before upgrading, review and follow Rockwell Automation's recommended backup procedures for drive configurations
  5. Upgrade the firmware on all affected Kinetix 5500 drives to the fixed version
  6. After upgrading, verify that telnet and FTP ports are no longer open by default
  7. If telnet or FTP services are required for legitimate purposes, configure them securely with authentication and restrict access to authorized IP addresses only
Caveat Firmware upgrades on industrial drives may require configuration backup/restore and could affect running processes - test in non-production environment first

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

Fix this in Kinetix 5500 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2023-1834 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data