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Full vulnerability report · 2023
CVE-2023-38558High confidence

A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC PCS neo (Administration Console) V4.0 (All versions), SIMATIC PCS neo (Administration Console) V4.0 Update 1 (All versions)

Siemens · SIMATIC PCS neo (Administration Console) V4.0

5.5MediumCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Scheduled

Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.

Patch available
Direct vendor intelligence

Authoritative 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.

1 current
SSA-646240 · CSAF 2.0 · revision 1 · finalSiemens ProductCERTSSA-646240: Sensitive Information Disclosure in SIMATIC PCS neo Administration Console
2 known affected

The vendor explicitly identifies these products as affected by this CVE.

  • SIMATIC PCS neo (Administration Console) V4.0
  • SIMATIC PCS neo (Administration Console) V4.0 Update 1
Summary
The affected application leaks Windows admin credentials. An attacker with local access to the Administration Console could get the credentials, and impersonate the admin user, thereby gaining admin access to other Windows systems.
Remediation
Install Security Patch 01 https://support.industry.siemens.com/cs/ww/en/view/109824065/
Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Select the national-authority views to include. The exact source language is shown on each matched advisory. Your choice is remembered on this device and encoded in the shareable URL.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2023-42357

No EUVD known-exploited evidence

ENISA has published the identifier mapping but no EUVD description has been stored yet.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
Not supplied in the stored EUVD record
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionScheduled

Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.

Patch available
01

What, why and how

A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC PCS neo (Administration Console) V4.0 (All versions), SIMATIC PCS neo (Administration Console) V4.0 Update 1 (All versions). The affected application leaks Windows admin credentials. An attacker with local access to the Administration Console could get the credentials, and impersonate the admin user, thereby gaining admin access to other Windows systems.

What

A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC PCS neo (Administration Console) V4.0 (All versions), SIMATIC PCS neo (Administration Console) V4.0 Update 1 (All versions). The affected application leaks Windows admin credentials. An attacker with local access to the Administration Console could get the credentials, and impersonate the admin user, thereby gaining admin access to other Windows systems.

Why

The product places sensitive information into files or directories that are accessible to actors who are allowed to have access to the files, but not to the sensitive information.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

What

A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC PCS neo (Administration Console) V4.0 (All versions), SIMATIC PCS neo (Administration Console) V4.0 Update 1 (All versions). The affected application leaks Windows admin credentials. An attacker with local access to the Administration Console could get the credentials, and impersonate the admin user, thereby gaining admin access to other Windows systems.

Why

The product places sensitive information into files or directories that are accessible to actors who are allowed to have access to the files, but not to the sensitive information.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. 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
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
No confirmed evidence

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
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

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 → Insertion of Sensitive Information into Externally-Accessible File or Directory → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
Attack surface
Local
Privileges required
Low: a basic authenticated account is required
User interaction
None
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-538 ↗

CWE-538: Insertion of Sensitive Information into Externally-Accessible File or Directory. The product places sensitive information into files or directories that are accessible to actors who are allowed to have access to the files, but not to the sensitive information.

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:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N/E:P/RL:O/RC:C

Common 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.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.INoneIntegrity impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.ANoneAvailability impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
Stolen credentials, tokens and legitimate administration functions may provide continued access without deploying a large custom toolset.
CWE-538
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2023-AVI-0749Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits Siemens

De multiples vulnérabilités ont été découvertes dans les produits Siemens . Elles permettent à un attaquant de provoquer un contournement de la politique de sécurité, une atteinte à la confidentialité des données et une élévation de privilèges.

Official advisory
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
SIMATIC PCS neo (Administration Console) V4.0; SIMATIC PCS neo (Administration Console) V4.0 Update 1
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.
Action
Install Security Patch 01 https://support.industry.siemens.com/cs/ww/en/view/109824065/
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 14 Sept 2023 · Last source change 27 Feb 2025, 20:50 UTC · CWE-538 · Insertion of Sensitive Information into Externally-Accessible File or Directory

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-42357
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

What changed after publication

View recent updates →

No material field changes have been recorded since change tracking began. Routine source refreshes and cosmetic edits are intentionally excluded.

Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
CVE published
Fixed release or patch reference recorded
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-42357↗Vendor CSAF · Siemens ProductCERT↗CVE authority or vendor reference↗Official CVE record (CNA and ADP data)↗NVD record↗
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.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2023-38558 · cve.blacktree.nl