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Factorytalk Policy ManagerApplication · Rockwellautomation

CVE-2023-2638

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
50/100
Remediation priority · Moderate

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's FactoryTalk System Services does not verify that a backup configuration archive is password protected.   Improper authorization in FTSSBackupRestore.exe may lead to the loading of malicious configuration archives.  This vulnerability may allow a local, authenticated non-admin user to craft a malicious backup archive, without password protection, that will be loaded by FactoryTalk System Services as a valid backup when a restore procedure takes places. User interaction is required for this vulnerability to be successfully exploited.

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

FactoryTalk System Services' FTSSBackupRestore.exe does not verify that backup configuration archives are password-protected before loading them. An authenticated non-admin local user can craft a malicious, unprotected backup archive that will be loaded as a valid backup during a restore procedure, leading to potential code execution with elevated privileges. User interaction is required to trigger the restore.

MitigationImplement validation in FTSSBackupRestore.exe to reject backup archives that lack password protection; require password-protected archives for all restore operations and verify archive integrity before loading.

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
Factorytalk Policy ManagerApplication
Affected:= 6.11.0
Factorytalk System ServicesApplication
Affected:= 6.11.0

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

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

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

  1. Identify installed FactoryTalk System Services version
    Locate the FTSSBackupRestore.exe binary in the FactoryTalk installation directory (typically under C:\Program Files\Rockwell Software\FactoryTalk System Services\ or similar). Right-click the executable, select Properties, and view the File Version field. Alternatively, use PowerShell: Get-Item 'C:\Program Files\Rockwell Software\FactoryTalk System Services\FTSSBackupRestore.exe' | Select-Object Name, VersionInfo
    Affected if File version is 6.11.0 exactly (matches the affected version)
  2. Identify installed FactoryTalk Policy Manager version
    Check the installed version via Windows Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl), locate 'Rockwell Automation FactoryTalk Policy Manager', and note the version shown. Alternatively, check the binary version of FTMPolicyManager.exe in the installation directory
    Affected if Version is 6.11.0 exactly (matches the affected version)
  3. Confirm FTSSBackupRestore.exe is present and accessible
    Verify the executable exists at the expected path and is readable by authenticated users. Use: Test-Path 'C:\Program Files\Rockwell Software\FactoryTalk System Services\FTSSBackupRestore.exe'
    Affected if Executable exists and non-admin authenticated users have read access to it
  4. Determine if restore operation accepts unprotected archives
    Create a test backup archive without password protection. Attempt to use the restore functionality (this requires user interaction to initiate the restore). Observe whether the application accepts and processes the unprotected archive without validation errors
    Affected if The restore operation completes successfully with an unprotected backup archive (indicates the vulnerability is exploitable)

User is affected if FactoryTalk System Services or Policy Manager version is 6.11.0 AND FTSSBackupRestore.exe is present AND the restore feature accepts unprotected backup archives without password validation.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement validation in FTSSBackupRestore.exe to reject backup archives that lack password protection; require password-protected archives for all restore operations and verify archive integrity before loading.

Fix this in Factorytalk Policy Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
36.0 hours of engineering $6,200
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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-2023-2638 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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