Evidence used
- No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
- The selected CVSS metric records a network-reachable, unauthenticated path with no user interaction.
- EPSS is 1.88% for the current model date.
BlackTreeCVE IntelligenceFull vulnerability report · 2021
CVE-2021-25663High confidence
Siemens Capital Embedded AR Classic 431-422 — Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')
Siemens · Capital Embedded AR Classic 431-422
Official source article: Siemens SSA-248289 ↗. Check the applicable product and release in the original source.
8.7HighCVSS 4.0
Patch only the product branches with a verified fix
Fix availability varies by productHigh technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance. Verified remediation exists for at least one product or source, but 6 structured product or package states remain unresolved. Apply remediation only to the exact product branch confirmed by its source.
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 the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
- Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.
Verification
- Confirm that the asset runs Siemens Capital Embedded AR Classic 431-422 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.
Remediation availability differs by product scope
Verified remediation exists for at least one product or source, but 6 structured product or package states remain unresolved. Apply remediation only to the exact product branch confirmed by its source.
- Siemens ProductCERT: 6 affected or under-investigation product states without a fixed product state in the same current advisory
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.
SSA-248289 · CSAF 2.0 · revision 4 · interimSiemens ProductCERTSSA-248289: Denial of Service Vulnerabilities in the IPv6 Stack of Nucleus RTOS
The vendor explicitly identifies these products as affected by this CVE.
- Capital Embedded AR Classic 431-422
- Capital Embedded AR Classic R20-11
- Nucleus NET
- Nucleus ReadyStart V3
- Nucleus ReadyStart V4
- Nucleus Source Code
- Summary
- The function that processes IPv6 headers does not check the lengths of extension header options, allowing attackers to put this function into an infinite loop with crafted length values.
- Remediation
- Update to V2017.02.4 or later version
High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance. Verified remediation exists for at least one product or source, but 6 structured product or package states remain unresolved. Apply remediation only to the exact product branch confirmed by its source.
Fix availability varies by product01
What, why and how
A vulnerability has been identified in Capital Embedded AR Classic 431-422 (All versions), Capital Embedded AR Classic R20-11 (All versions < V2303), Nucleus NET (All versions), Nucleus ReadyStart V3 (All versions < V2017.02.4), Nucleus ReadyStart V4 (All versions < V4.1.0), Nucleus Source Code (All versions including affected IPv6 stack). The function that processes IPv6 headers does not check the lengths of extension header options, allowing attackers to put this function into an infinite loop with crafted length values.
What
A vulnerability has been identified in Capital Embedded AR Classic 431-422 (All versions), Capital Embedded AR Classic R20-11 (All versions < V2303), Nucleus NET (All versions), Nucleus ReadyStart V3 (All versions < V2017.02.4), Nucleus ReadyStart V4 (All versions < V4.1.0), Nucleus Source Code (All versions including affected IPv6 stack). The function that processes IPv6 headers does not check the lengths of extension header options, allowing attackers to put this function into an infinite loop with crafted length values.
Why
A malformed condition prevents a loop from making progress or terminating, allowing resource exhaustion.
How
An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.
What
A vulnerability has been identified in Capital Embedded AR Classic 431-422 (All versions), Capital Embedded AR Classic R20-11 (All versions < V2303), Nucleus NET (All versions), Nucleus ReadyStart V3 (All versions < V2017.02.4), Nucleus ReadyStart V4 (All versions < V4.1.0), Nucleus Source Code (All versions including affected IPv6 stack). The function that processes IPv6 headers does not check the lengths of extension header options, allowing attackers to put this function into an infinite loop with crafted length values.
Why
A malformed condition prevents a loop from making progress or terminating, allowing resource exhaustion.
How
An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or 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
- a network path → Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop') → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
- Attack surface
- Network
- Privileges required
- None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
- Security boundary
- Not a CVSS 4.0 base metric
- Weakness
?
CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness. - CWE-835 ↗
CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop'). The product contains an iteration or loop with an exit condition that cannot be reached, i.e., an infinite loop.
- CVSS vector
?
CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity. CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:NCommon Vulnerability Scoring System 4.0: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.ATNoneAttack requirements: No additional deployment or execution condition is required.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.VCNoneVulnerable-system confidentiality: No direct loss is represented by this metric.VINoneVulnerable-system integrity: No direct loss is represented by this metric.VAHighVulnerable-system availability: A successful attack can cause a major loss.SCNoneSubsequent-system confidentiality: No direct loss is represented by this metric.SINoneSubsequent-system integrity: No direct loss is represented by this metric.SANoneSubsequent-system availability: No direct loss is represented by this metric.- Post-exploitation / living off the land
- No specific living-off-the-land technique is confirmed in the structured sources. Monitor normal administration tools for activity inconsistent with the affected service's baseline.
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. - Fix availability varies by product
- Affected
- Action
- Use the product-specific evidence above. Patch only products with a verified fixed release, and keep every affected or under-investigation state without a matching fix in the remediation queue.
- Workaround
- No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 22 Apr 2021 · Last source change 11 Mar 2025, 09:47 UTC · CWE-835 · Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')
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-2021-12555
Product sourceVendor CSAF · Siemens ProductCERT
Remediation sourceVendor CSAF · Siemens ProductCERT
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.Siemens ProductCERT ↗
- Before
- < *; < V2303; All versions; < V2017.02.4; < V4.1.0 · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
- After
- < *; < V2303; All versions; < V2017.02.4; < V4.1.0 · Fixed: Update to V2017.02.4 or later version
- Remediation statusRemediation status changed from Awaiting fix to Patch available.Siemens ProductCERT ↗
- Before
- Awaiting fix
- After
- Patch available
CVE published
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.