CVE-2017-20237
Published: 03 April 2026
Summary
CVE-2017-20237 is a critical-severity Improper Authentication (CWE-287) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 9.3 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 43.0% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 AC-14 (Permitted Actions Without Identification or Authentication) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2017-20237 is an authentication bypass vulnerability affecting Hirschmann Industrial HiVision versions prior to 06.0.07 and 07.0.03. The flaw resides in the master service, where exposed interface methods can be invoked over the remote service without authentication. This enables unauthenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands with administrative privileges, resulting in remote code execution on the underlying operating system. The vulnerability is associated with CWE-287 (Improper Authentication) and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating critical severity due to its network accessibility, low complexity, and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Unauthenticated attackers with network access to the affected HiVision instance can exploit this vulnerability remotely without privileges or user interaction. By invoking the exposed methods on the master service, they bypass authentication entirely and gain administrative command execution on the host OS, potentially leading to full system compromise, data exfiltration, lateral movement, or deployment of persistent malware in industrial environments.
Advisories from Belden (BSECV-2017-02) and VulnCheck detail mitigation strategies, recommending upgrades to Hirschmann Industrial HiVision version 06.0.07 or 07.0.03, where the authentication bypass has been addressed. Security practitioners should review these resources for full patch instructions and apply them promptly to vulnerable deployments.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2017-18953
Vulnerability details
Hirschmann Industrial HiVision versions prior to 06.0.07 and 07.0.03 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in the master service that allows unauthenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands with administrative privileges. Attackers can invoke exposed interface methods over the remote service…
more
to bypass authentication and achieve remote code execution on the underlying operating system.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Authentication bypass in exposed master service enables unauthenticated RCE with admin privileges on a network-accessible industrial application, directly enabling T1190 (Exploit Public-Facing Application) for initial access and T1059 (Command and Scripting Interpreter) for arbitrary command execution.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly mitigates by limiting and documenting permitted actions without authentication, preventing exposure of privileged interface methods in the master service.
Enforces approved authorizations on remote service interfaces to block unauthenticated execution of arbitrary administrative commands.
Addresses the specific authentication bypass flaw through timely remediation and patching to versions 06.0.07 or 07.0.03.