# CVE-2016-9159: Information disclosure in SIMATIC S7-300 CPU family

> An attacker with network access can obtain credentials from Siemens SIMATIC PLCs if protection-level 2 is configured.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 17 Dec 2016
- **Updated:** 2 Jun 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xx5q-4wf5-7xrj

## What is CVE-2016-9159?

CVE-2016-9159 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Siemens AG SIMATIC S7-300 CPU family, published on 17 Dec 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC S7-300 CPU family (All versions), SIMATIC S7-300 CPU family (incl. related ET200 CPUs and SIPLUS variants) (All versions), SIMATIC S7-400 PN/DP V6 and below CPU family (incl. SIPLUS variants) (All versions), SIMATIC S7-400 PN/DP V7 CPU family (incl. SIPLUS variants) (All versions), SIMATIC S7-400 V6 and earlier CPU family (All versions), SIMATIC S7-400 V7 CPU family (All versions), SIMATIC S7-410 V8 CPU family (All versions), SIMATIC S7-410 V8 CPU family (incl. SIPLUS variants) (All versions). An attacker with network access to port 102/tcp (ISO-TSAP) or via Profibus could obtain credentials from the PLC if protection-level 2 is configured on the affected devices.

Weakness: CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-9159?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Siemens Simatic S7-300 Cpu Firmware, Siemens Simatic S7-400 Cpu Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-9159?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-9159 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-9159 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-9159 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Siemens AG SIMATIC S7-300 CPU family

- [CVE-2016-9158](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9158/): Denial of service in SIMATIC S7-300 CPU family (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-9159 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-9159 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Siemens AG SIMATIC S7-300 CPU family, published on 17 Dec 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-9159 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Siemens AG SIMATIC S7-300 CPU family. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9159/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9159/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-9159
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-9159
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-9159

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9159/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.