Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Some WAGO managed switches may expose web session cookies to third parties when they receive specially crafted requests. This is a confidentiality issue, not a reported takeover or outage vulnerability. The business concern is unauthorized disclosure of session-related data on industrial network equipment.
Executive priority
Treat this as a medium-priority industrial network hygiene issue. Prioritize assets managing sensitive or production network segments, especially if management interfaces are remotely reachable.
Technical view
CVE-2021-20996 affects listed WAGO managed switch models with unspecified versions. The CVSS 3.1 score is 5.3: network reachable, low complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, with low confidentiality impact. The source describes insecure cookie settings and maps the issue to CWE-732.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where affected WAGO switch management interfaces are reachable from untrusted networks or shared administrative environments. Version details are unspecified in the provided sources, so asset owners need vendor-specific confirmation.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. It states that specially crafted requests can cause cookies to be transferred to third parties, but provides no exploit maturity or incident details.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited: affected versions are unspecified and the bundle does not include patch details. Avoid assuming broader WAGO impact. Focus validation on listed models, management-plane exposure, and vendor advisory alignment.
Mitigation direction
- Check the VDE/WAGO advisory for model-specific remediation and firmware guidance.
- Inventory the listed WAGO switch models in production and lab networks.
- Restrict management interface access to trusted administrative networks only.
- Review remote administration exposure for internet or partner-network reachability.
- Rotate administrative sessions or credentials if cookie exposure is suspected.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether deployed assets match the listed WAGO product numbers.
- Record firmware versions and compare them with vendor advisory guidance.
- Verify management interfaces are not reachable from untrusted networks.
- Review web management configuration for cookie security settings where visible.
- Check logs for unusual management-interface requests or third-party referrer patterns.
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-732: Authorization and privilege behavior lookup
Authorization weaknesses can support privilege escalation and valid-account review, depending on exploit path. 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-2021-20996 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
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:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N3.91.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.3MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://cert.vde.com/en-us/advisories/vde-2021-013CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
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.
Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource
Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.