Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw affects many Mitsubishi Electric factory automation engineering tools. If abused, it can let an attacker gain higher privileges and run malicious programs, potentially disrupting operations or exposing, changing, or destroying information. The source bundle does not show confirmed active exploitation.
Executive priority
High priority for manufacturers or operators using Mitsubishi Electric automation tooling. The business risk is disruption and loss of control over sensitive engineering systems. Prioritize inventory, vendor-guided remediation, and exposure reduction on engineering workstations.
Technical view
CVE-2020-14496 is a CWE-275 permission issue across multiple Mitsubishi Electric engineering software products. CVSS 3.1 is 8.3, with network attack vector, high complexity, no privileges required, user interaction required, changed scope, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Organizations using listed Mitsubishi Electric engineering software on factory automation or engineering workstations may be exposed, including GX Works2, GX Works3, GT Designer3, MELSOFT Navigator, and related tools. The bundle lists many products as affected in all versions.
Exploitation context
The CVSS vector indicates exploitation is network-reachable but high complexity and requires user interaction. The bundle does not cite public exploitation, and KEV status is false. Treat this as a serious engineering-workstation risk, not as confirmed exploited activity.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports a high-severity permission issue across multiple Mitsubishi Electric factory automation engineering products. The bundle does not provide exploit details, fixed versions, or named mitigations. Avoid assuming active exploitation or complete remediation paths beyond vendor and CISA guidance.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory installations of the listed Mitsubishi Electric engineering software products.
- Review Mitsubishi Electric and CISA advisory guidance for product-specific updates or mitigations.
- Prioritize engineering workstations and systems connected to automation networks.
- Limit access to affected engineering tools while remediation guidance is being applied.
- Monitor affected systems for unexpected privilege changes, tampering, or service disruption.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether each engineering workstation runs any listed affected product.
- Record product names and versions, including tools marked affected in all versions.
- Check vendor or CISA guidance before marking any system remediated.
- Verify compensating access controls around engineering workstations and automation network paths.
- Review logs for suspicious program execution or unexpected permission changes.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-275: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2020-14496 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
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.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe 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.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H1.66Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
8.3HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ics/advisories/icsa-20-212-02CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Permission Issues
Permission Issues represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.