# CVE-2018-13799: Privilege escalation in SIMATIC WinCC OA V3.14 and prior

> Unauthenticated remote attackers can escalate privileges in SIMATIC WinCC OA via improper access control on port 5678, compromising system integrity and availability.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.1 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 12 Sep 2018
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-93r3-p736-cjhx

## What is CVE-2018-13799?

CVE-2018-13799 is a critical vulnerability in Siemens AG SIMATIC WinCC OA V3.14 and prior, published on 12 Sep 2018. 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 WinCC OA V3.14 and prior (All versions < V3.14-P021). Improper access control to a data point of the affected product could allow an unauthenticated remote user to escalate its privileges in the context of SIMATIC WinCC OA V3.14. This vulnerability could be exploited by an attacker with network access to port 5678/TCP of the SIMATIC WinCC OA V3.14 server. Successful exploitation requires no user privileges and no user interaction. This vulnerability could allow an attacker to compromise integrity and availability of the SIMATIC WinCC OA system. At the time of advisory publication no public exploitation of this vulnerability was known.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-13799?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Siemens Simatic Wincc Open Architecture.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-13799?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-13799 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-13799 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-13799 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Siemens AG SIMATIC WinCC OA V3.14 and prior

- [CVE-2018-3991](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-3991/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2014-1697](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-1697/): Code injection in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2014-1696](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-1696/): Weak cryptography in n/a (medium 5.0)
- [CVE-2014-1698](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-1698/): Path traversal in n/a (medium 5.0)
- [CVE-2014-1699](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-1699/): Denial of service in n/a (medium 5.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-13799 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-13799 is a critical vulnerability in Siemens AG SIMATIC WinCC OA V3.14 and prior, published on 12 Sep 2018. 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-2018-13799 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Siemens AG SIMATIC WinCC OA V3.14 and prior. 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-2018-13799/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-13799/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-13799
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-13799
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-13799

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-13799/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.