Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-0635

Abb Aspect-Ent-2 Firmware 3.0.0 – 3.07.01

Published
05 June 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0037 30th percentile
Risk Priority 57 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-0635 is a high-severity Use of Weak Credentials (CWE-1391) vulnerability in Abb Aspect-Ent-2 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Default Accounts (T1078.001); ranked at the 30th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A07:2025 Authentication Failures

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in ABB Ltd. ASPECT®-Enterprise on ASPECT®-Enterprise, Linux (2CQG103201S3021, 2CQG103202S3021, 2CQG103203S3021, 2CQG103204S3021 modules), ABB Ltd. NEXUS Series on NEXUS Series, Linux (2CQG100102R2021, 2CQG100104R2021, 2CQG100105R2021, 2CQG100106R2021, 2CQG100110R2021, 2CQG100112R2021, 2CQG100103R2021, 2CQG100107R2021, 2CQG100108R2021, 2CQG100109R2021, 2CQG100111R2021, 2CQG100113R2021 modules), ABB Ltd. MATRIX…

more

Series on MATRIX Series, Linux (2CQG100102R1021, 2CQG100103R1021, 2CQG100104R1021, 2CQG100105R1021, 2CQG100106R1021 modules) allows Privilege Escalation.This issue affects ASPECT®-Enterprise: from 3.0;0 before 3.07.01; NEXUS Series: from 3.0;0 before 3.07.01; MATRIX Series: from 3.0;0 before 3.07.01.

CWE(s)
CWE-1391NVD-CWE-noinfo

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1078.001 Default Accounts Stealth
Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of a default account as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion.
attack.mitre.org →
T1110 Brute Force Credential Access
Adversaries may use brute force techniques to gain access to accounts when passwords are unknown or when password hashes are obtained.
attack.mitre.org →
T1110.001 Password Guessing Credential Access
Adversaries with no prior knowledge of legitimate credentials within the system or environment may guess passwords to attempt access to accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1078 Valid Accounts Stealth
Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of existing accounts as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion.
attack.mitre.org →
T1110.002 Password Cracking Credential Access
Adversaries may use password cracking to attempt to recover usable credentials, such as plaintext passwords, when credential material such as password hashes are obtained.
attack.mitre.org →
T1133 External Remote Services Persistence
Adversaries may leverage external-facing remote services to initially access and/or persist within a network.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-48845Same product: Abb Aspect-Ent-12
CVE-2024-51551Same product: Abb Aspect-Ent-12
CVE-2024-51547Same product: Abb Aspect-Ent-12
CVE-2024-48846Same product: Abb Aspect-Ent-12
CVE-2024-51549Same product: Abb Aspect-Ent-12
CVE-2024-6784Same product: Abb Aspect-Ent-12
CVE-2024-51541Same product: Abb Aspect-Ent-12
CVE-2024-51546Same product: Abb Aspect-Ent-12
CVE-2024-48847Same product: Abb Aspect-Ent-12
CVE-2024-51545Same product: Abb Aspect-Ent-12

Affected Assets

abb
aspect-ent-2 firmware
3.0.0 — 3.07.01
abb
aspect-ent-12 firmware
3.0.0 — 3.07.01
abb
aspect-ent-256 firmware
3.0.0 — 3.07.01
abb
aspect-ent-96 firmware
3.0.0 — 3.07.01
abb
nexus-2128 firmware
3.0.0 — 3.07.01
abb
nexus-2128-a firmware
3.0.0 — 3.07.01
abb
nexus-2128-g firmware
3.0.0 — 3.07.01
abb
nexus-2128-f firmware
3.0.0 — 3.07.01
abb
nexus-3-2128 firmware
3.0.0 — 3.07.01
abb
nexus-3-264 firmware
3.0.0 — 3.07.01
+9 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 7 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.2.2
  • V6.3.1
  • V6.3.2
  • V6.4.2

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

IA-5 Authenticator Management
addresses: CWE-1391

Ensuring sufficient strength of mechanism for authenticators prevents use of weak credentials.

IA-7 Cryptographic Module Authentication
addresses: CWE-1391

Enforces use of credentials that comply with standards rather than weak credentials for module access.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-01 mostly match
prevents

PR.AA-01's credential issuance and key-management processes directly block most weak/default credential usage, yet leave hard-coded or product-design instances of CWE-1391 only partially addressed.

PR.AA-03 mostly match
prevents

Password-strength policies in PR.AA-03 directly block weak authenticators, but the control leaves hard-coded/default credentials largely unaddressed.

PR.PS-01 mostly match
prevents

Hardened baselines and default-setting reviews directly block default/hard-coded creds (mostly), yet leave algorithmic guessing, reuse, and non-config sources of weak credentials untouched (partial).

PR.AT-01 partial match
prevents

Training raises password-hygiene awareness and can therefore reduce some weak-credential mistakes, yet supplies no enforcement mechanism and leaves the dominant technical sources of CWE-1391 untouched.

PR.AT-02 partial match
prevents

Role-based awareness training can reduce the chance developers or admins introduce weak credentials but supplies no enforcement or verification, leaving the bulk of CWE-1391 risk untouched.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Maintenance/patching can incidentally remove known weak-default creds in updated versions (partial forward) but does nothing to ensure credentials are strong at design, deployment or config time (none reverse).

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.17 Authentication information full match
degrades

Directly requires secure generation, distribution and storage of authentication credentials, eliminating default/hard-coded weak passwords.

A.8.5 Secure authentication full match
degrades

Mandates secure authentication mechanisms that preclude use of weak or default credentials.

A.8.28 Secure coding mostly match
prevents

Secure-coding rules can prohibit hard-coded passwords, yet coverage depends on specific coding standards adopted.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can discover weak credentials, but does not guarantee they are prevented by design.

A.8.9 Configuration management mostly match
prevents

Enforces secure baseline configurations that should remove default credentials, yet does not guarantee credential strength.

A.8.2 Privileged access rights partial match
degrades

Restricts privileged accounts but does not explicitly address default or hard-coded credentials for those accounts.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (3 rules)
  • V-248667 OL 8 must configure the use of the pam_faillock.so module in the /etc/pam.d/system-auth file. prevents CWE-1391
  • V-248668 OL 8 must configure the use of the pam_faillock.so module in the /etc/pam.d/password-auth file. prevents CWE-1391
  • V-248827 OL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-1391
RHEL 7 (1 rule)
  • V-204442 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-1391
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-244533 RHEL 8 must configure the use of the pam_faillock.so module in the /etc/pam.d/system-auth file. prevents CWE-1391

References