CVE-2023-6409
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 · uneditedCWE-798: Use of Hard-coded Credentials vulnerability exists that could cause unauthorized access to a project file protected with application password when opening the file with EcoStruxure Control Expert.
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 confidenceCWE-798 hard-coded credentials vulnerability in EcoStruxure Control Expert allows unauthorized access to project files protected by application passwords by exploiting embedded credentials in the software instead of proper authentication mechanisms.
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< 16.0< 2023CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/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 version of EcoStruxure Control ExpertOpen the application and navigate to Help > About, or check the installed programs list in Windows Control Panel to find the exact version numberAffected if The version is lower than 16.0
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Check installed version of EcoStruxure Process ExpertOpen the application and navigate to Help > About, or check the installed programs list in Windows Control Panel to find the exact version numberAffected if The version is lower than 2023
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Identify project files using application password protectionLocate project files (typically .sch or .xef file extensions) in the project directory and check if they are configured with application-level password protection through the software settingsAffected if Project files exist that are protected by application passwords and the software version is vulnerable
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Search for embedded credential references in configurationInspect configuration files within the application installation directory and project folders for hard-coded username and password strings, particularly in files related to authentication or project accessAffected if Configuration files contain embedded credentials instead of external credential management
You are affected if you run EcoStruxure Control Expert version < 16.0 or EcoStruxure Process Expert version < 2023 and have project files protected by application passwords that could be accessed using the embedded credentials.
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.
dbcve · scoped16.02023
Replace hard-coded credentials with secure credential management such as credential vaults, environment variables, or proper secrets management; rotate any exposed credentials immediately.
Ecostruxure Control Expert 16.0 or later; Ecostruxure Process Expert 2023 or later
- Identify whether Ecostruxure Control Expert or Ecostruxure Process Expert is installed in the environment
- Check the currently installed version of the affected product
- Navigate to the Schneider Electric download portal at download.schneider-electric.com
- Download Ecostruxure Control Expert version 16.0 or later, or Ecostruxure Process Expert version 2023 or later
- Follow Schneider Electric's official upgrade documentation to install the new version
- Verify the upgrade was successful and the application runs without errors
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-6409 — 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-2023-6409 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data