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CVE Record

CVE-2018-16561: A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC S7-300 CPUs (All versions < V3.X.16).

A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC S7-300 CPUs (All versions < V3.X.16). The affected CPUs improperly validate S7 communication packets which could cause a Denial-of-Service condition of the CPU. The CPU will remain in DEFECT mode until manual restart. Successful exploitation requires an attacker to be able to send a specially crafted S7 communication packet to a communication interface of the CPU. This includes Ethernet, PROFIBUS, and Multi Point Interfaces (MPI). No user interaction or privileges are required to exploit the security vulnerability. The vulnerability could allow causing a Denial-of-Service condition of the core functionality of the CPU, compromising the availability of the system. At the time of advisory publication no public exploitation of this security vulnerability was known. Siemens confirms the security vulnerability and provides mitigations to resolve the security issue.

HighCVSS 7.5Not KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This issue can force affected Siemens SIMATIC S7-300 CPUs into a DEFECT state, stopping core PLC availability until someone manually restarts the CPU. For industrial environments, that can mean operational interruption rather than data theft.

Executive priority

Treat as high priority for facilities where S7-300 CPUs support production, safety-adjacent operations, or critical availability. The business risk is downtime requiring manual recovery.

Technical view

SIMATIC S7-300 CPUs before V3.X.16 improperly validate S7 communication packets. An unauthenticated attacker with access to Ethernet, PROFIBUS, or MPI communication interfaces can trigger denial of service, placing the CPU in DEFECT mode until manual restart. CVSS v3.1 is 7.5, availability-only impact.

Likely exposure

Exposure is likely where SIMATIC S7-300 CPUs below V3.X.16 remain deployed and reachable through S7 communication paths, including Ethernet, PROFIBUS, or MPI interfaces.

Exploitation context

The provided sources state no user interaction or privileges are required. Siemens reported no known public exploitation at advisory publication, and the CVE is not marked KEV in the supplied bundle.

Researcher notes

Evidence is limited to the CVE record and Siemens advisory reference in the source bundle. The affected range and attack preconditions are clear, but detailed vendor mitigation text should be checked directly in SSA-306710.

Mitigation direction

  • Inventory SIMATIC S7-300 CPUs and identify firmware versions.
  • Prioritize remediation for CPUs running versions below V3.X.16.
  • Apply Siemens guidance from SSA-306710 for updates or mitigations.
  • Restrict access to Ethernet, PROFIBUS, and MPI communication interfaces.
  • Prepare operational procedures for manual CPU restart if affected.

Validation and detection

  • Confirm each SIMATIC S7-300 CPU firmware version against the affected range.
  • Verify only trusted engineering systems can reach S7 communication interfaces.
  • Review OT network paths exposing Ethernet, PROFIBUS, or MPI access.
  • Check operational logs for unexplained DEFECT-mode events.
  • Document remediation status and compensating controls per site.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
3

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

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ATT&CK lookup starting points

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cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-20: Exact CWE lookup

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cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2018-16561 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
High
CVSS
7.5 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

1CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
2ADP providers
2Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: yesTechnical Impact: partial

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
7.5CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H3.93.6CISA-ADP

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

7.5High
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2018-16561Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  3. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CVECVE Program Container
CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
cvssV3_1other:ssvc

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
SiemensSIMATIC S7-300 CPUsAll versions < V3.X.16Listed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-20 · source CWE mapping

Improper Input Validation

Improper Input Validation represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.