Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 Signed to Unsigned Conversion Error (CVE-2020-6096)

high Tenable OT Security Plugin ID 504313

Synopsis

The remote OT asset is affected by a vulnerability.

Description

An exploitable signed comparison vulnerability exists in the ARMv7 memcpy() implementation of GNU glibc 2.30.9000. Calling memcpy() (on ARMv7 targets that utilize the GNU glibc implementation) with a negative value for the 'num' parameter results in a signed comparison vulnerability. If an attacker underflows the 'num' parameter to memcpy(), this vulnerability could lead to undefined behavior such as writing to out-of-bounds memory and potentially remote code execution.
Furthermore, this memcpy() implementation allows for program execution to continue in scenarios where a segmentation fault or crash should have occurred. The dangers occur in that subsequent execution and iterations of this code will be executed with this corrupted data.

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Solution

The following text was originally created by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The original can be found at CISA.gov.

Siemens has identified the following specific workarounds and mitigations users can apply to reduce risk:

- SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4AX00-1AB0): Only build and run applications from trusted sources.
Currently no fix is available.
- SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4AX00-1AC0): Only build and run applications from trusted sources.
Currently no fix is available.
- SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4FX00-1AB0): Only build and run applications from trusted sources.
Currently no fix is available.
- SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP (6ES7518-4FX00-1AC0): Only build and run applications from trusted sources.
Currently no fix is available.
- SIPLUS S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP (6AG1518-4AX00-4AC0): Only build and run applications from trusted sources.
Currently no fix is available.

Note: This SSA advises vulnerabilities for firmware version V3.1 only; for versions prior to V3.1 refer to SiemensSecurity Bulletin SSB-439005.

As a general security measure, Siemens recommends protecting network access to devices with appropriate mechanisms. To operate the devices in a protected IT environment, Siemens recommends configuring the environment according to Siemens' operational guidelines for industrial security and following recommendations in the product manuals.

Additional information on industrial security by Siemens can be found on the Siemens industrial security webpage.

For more information see the associated Siemens security advisory SSA-398330 in HTML and CSAF.

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 504313

File Name: tenable_ot_siemens_CVE-2020-6096.nasl

Version: 1.3

Type: remote

Family: Tenable.ot

Published: 11/13/2025

Updated: 3/5/2026

Supported Sensors: Tenable OT Security

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 5.9

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 8.1

Temporal Score: 7.3

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:P/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:siemens:simatic_s7-1500_cpu_firmware:3.1.5, cpe:/o:siemens:siplus_s7-1500_cpu_firmware:3.1.5

Required KB Items: Tenable.ot/Siemens

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 12/12/2023

Vulnerability Publication Date: 12/12/2023

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2020-6096

CWE: 195

ICSA: 23-348-10

Detections

Analytics