Evidence used
- No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
- EPSS is 26.10% for the current model date.
BlackTreeCVE IntelligenceFull vulnerability report · 2022
CVE-2021-22797High confidence
Schneider Electric EcoStruxure Control Expert — Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
Schneider Electric · EcoStruxure Control Expert
7.8HighCVSS 3.1
Within 7 days
Patch availableHigh technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
R
Open reassessment dashboard →Operational reassessment
Published severity in operational context
Published severityHigh→Operational priority:High, unchanged from published severity.unchanged
Compensating controls
- Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
- Restrict local access and enforce least privilege on affected hosts.
- Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.
Verification
- Confirm that the asset runs Schneider Electric EcoStruxure Control Expert and falls inside the recorded affected range.
- Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
- Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
- Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Direct vendor intelligence
1 currentAuthoritative vendor CSAF and VEX advisories
Structured product status and remediation from the issuing vendor. Product-state explanations are always visible; large lists can be searched or downloaded.
SEVD-2021-257-01 · CSAF 2.0 · revision 3 · finalSchneider Electric CPCERTEcoStruxureTM Control Expert, EcoStruxureTM Process Expert, SCADAPack RemoteConnect™ for x70
The vendor explicitly identifies these products as affected by this CVE.
- Schneider Electric EcoStruxure™ Control Expert version V15.0 SP1 and prior
- Schneider Electric EcoStruxure™ Process Expert version V2021 and prior
- Schneider Electric SCADAPack RemoteConnect™ for x70 versions prior to R2.7.3
- Summary
- A CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal) vulnerability exists that could cause malicious script to be deployed in an unauthorized location and may result in code execution on the engineering workstation when a malicious project file is loaded in the engineering software.
- Remediation
- V15.1 and prior of EcoStruxure™ Control Expert includes a fix for these vulnerabilities and is available for download here: https://www.se.com/ww/en/download/document/EcoStruxureControlExpert_V15.1/
High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
Patch available01
What, why and how
A CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal) vulnerability exists that could cause malicious script to be deployed in an unauthorized location and may result in code execution on the engineering workstation when a malicious project file is loaded in the engineering software. Affected Product: EcoStruxure Control Expert (V15.0 SP1 and prior, including former Unity Pro), EcoStruxure Process Expert (2020 and prior, including former HDCS), SCADAPack RemoteConnect for x70 (All versions)
What
A CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal) vulnerability exists that could cause malicious script to be deployed in an unauthorized location and may result in code execution on the engineering workstation when a malicious project file is loaded in the engineering software. Affected Product: EcoStruxure Control Expert (V15.0 SP1 and prior, including former Unity Pro), EcoStruxure Process Expert (2020 and prior, including former HDCS), SCADAPack RemoteConnect for x70 (All versions)
Why
Attacker-controlled path data is not constrained to the intended directory before the application accesses a file.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation without authentication after a user interaction. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.
What
A CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal) vulnerability exists that could cause malicious script to be deployed in an unauthorized location and may result in code execution on the engineering workstation when a malicious project file is loaded in the engineering software. Affected Product: EcoStruxure Control Expert (V15.0 SP1 and prior, including former Unity Pro), EcoStruxure Process Expert (2020 and prior, including former HDCS), SCADAPack RemoteConnect for x70 (All versions)
Why
Attacker-controlled path data is not constrained to the intended directory before the application accesses a file.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation without authentication after a user interaction. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation No confirmed evidence
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.
Public PoC / exploit material None recorded
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.
- Likely attack path
- local access → Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
- Attack surface
- Local
- Privileges required
- None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
- User interaction
- Required interaction required
- Attack complexity
- Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
- Security boundary
- Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
- Weakness
?
CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness. - CWE-22 ↗
CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal'). The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.
- CVSS vector
?
CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity. CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCommon Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UIRequiredUser interaction: Another user must perform an action for exploitation to succeed.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.- Post-exploitation / living off the land
- The issue can support a local privilege or sandbox boundary transition; normal system utilities may then be available in the gained context.
03
Patch and workaround
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
- Status
?
Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change. - Patch available
- Affected
- Fixed
- Action
- V15.1 and prior of EcoStruxure™ Control Expert includes a fix for these vulnerabilities and is available for download here: https://www.se.com/ww/en/download/document/EcoStruxureControlExpert_V15.1/
- Workaround
- A mitigation or workaround reference is available from the source linked below; validate it against the affected product and version.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 28 Mar 2022 · Last source change 3 Aug 2024, 18:51 UTC · CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
?
The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2021-9932
Product sourceVendor CSAF · Schneider Electric CPCERT
Remediation sourceVendor CSAF · Schneider Electric CPCERT
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment
Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.
Material change intelligence
View recent updates ↗What changed after publication
- Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.Schneider Electric CPCERT ↗
- Before
- unspecified < V15.0 SP1; unspecified < 2020; All versions · Fixed: An authoritative update reference is available, but the fixed version is not recorded in the structured CVE fields. Check the linked vendor advisory for the applicable release.
- After
- unspecified < V15.0 SP1; unspecified < 2020; All versions · Fixed: V15.1 and prior of EcoStruxure™ Control Expert includes a fix for these vulnerabilities and is available for download here: https://www.se.com/ww/en/download/document/EcoStruxureControlExpert_V15.1/
CVE published
Fixed release or patch reference recorded
Fixed release recorded from official guidance
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
- CVE
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
- CVSS
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
- CWE
- Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
- CNA
- CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
- CISA ADP
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
- NVD
- National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
- CERT / CSIRT
- A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
- PoC
- Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
- CSAF
- Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
- LoTL
- Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.