CVE-2021-40363
HIGHDescription
A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC PCS 7 V8.2 (All versions), SIMATIC PCS 7 V9.0 (All versions), SIMATIC PCS 7 V9.1 (All versions < V9.1 SP1), SIMATIC WinCC V15 and earlier (All versions < V15 SP1 Update 7), SIMATIC WinCC V16 (All versions < V16 Update 5), SIMATIC WinCC V17 (All versions < V17 Update 2), SIMATIC WinCC V17 (All versions <= V17 Update 4), SIMATIC WinCC V7.4 (All versions < V7.4 SP1 Update 19), SIMATIC WinCC V7.5 (All versions < V7.5 SP2 Update 6). The affected component stores the credentials of a local system account in a potentially publicly accessible project file using an outdated cipher algorithm. An attacker may use this to brute force the credentials and take over the system.
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 6% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-538 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2024-51977 | Medium | 5.3 | 78% | - | - |
| CVE-2019-6851 | High | 7.5 | 30% | - | - |
| CVE-2017-9947 | Medium | 5.3 | 7.3% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2018-11798 | Medium | 6.5 | 4.9% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-16770 | Medium | 6.5 | 1.8% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2018-10590 | High | 7.5 | 1.7% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2021-40363?
Upgrade simatic wincc to 7.4 or later.
Is CVE-2021-40363 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2021-40363 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 0.16% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 6% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2021-40363?
CVE-2021-40363 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8, rated high. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2021-40363 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for simatic wincc (NVD). Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
Embed a live status badge for CVE-2021-40363
Markdown
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2024-11-21.