# CVE-2020-8471: ABB Central Licensing System - Weak File Permissions

> An authenticated attacker can exploit weak file permissions in ABB Central Licensing System to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 29 Apr 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-wwxr-688j-6wxx

## What is CVE-2020-8471?

CVE-2020-8471 is a high-severity vulnerability in ABB Ability System 800xA, published on 29 Apr 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

For the Central Licensing Server component used in ABB products ABB Ability™ System 800xA and related system extensions versions 5.1, 6.0 and 6.1, Compact HMI versions 5.1 and 6.0, Control Builder Safe 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0, Symphony Plus -S+ Operations 3.0 to 3.2 Symphony Plus -S+ Engineering 1.1 to 2.2, Composer Harmony 5.1, 6.0 and 6.1, Melody Composer 5.3, 6.1/6.2 and SPE for Melody 1.0SPx (Composer 6.3), Harmony OPC Server (HAOPC) Standalone 6.0, 6.1 and 7.0, ABB Ability™ System 800xA/ Advant® OCS Control Builder A 1.3 and 1.4, Advant® OCS AC100 OPC Server 5.1, 6.0 and 6.1, Composer CTK 6.1 and 6.2, AdvaBuild 3.7 SP1 and SP2, OPCServer for MOD 300 (non-800xA) 1.4, OPC Data Link 2.1 and 2.2, Knowledge Manager 8.0, 9.0 and 9.1, Manufacturing Operations Management 1812 and 1909, weak file permissions allow an authenticated attacker to block the license handling, escalate his/her privileges and execute arbitrary code.

Weakness: CWE-276 (Incorrect Default Permissions), CWE-275

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-8471?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Abb 800xa System, Abb Compact Hmi, Abb Control Builder Safe.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-8471?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-8471 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-8471 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-8471 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in ABB Ability System 800xA

- [CVE-2020-8481](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8481/): ABB Central Licensing System - Information disclosure (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-8479](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8479/): ABB Central Licensing System - XML External Entity Injection (critical 9.4)
- [CVE-2020-8475](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8475/): ABB Central Licensing System - Denial of Service Vulnerability (medium 5.3)
- [CVE-2020-8476](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8476/): ABB Central Licensing System - Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability (medium 5.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-8471 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-8471 is a high-severity vulnerability in ABB Ability System 800xA, published on 29 Apr 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-8471 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: ABB Ability System 800xA. 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-2020-8471/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8471/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-8471
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-8471
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-8471

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8471/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.