Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-1618

Mitsubishielectric Melsec Ws0-Geth00200 Firmware

Published
19 May 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.011 64th percentile
Risk Priority 61 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-1618 is a high-severity Active Debug Code (CWE-489) vulnerability in Mitsubishielectric Melsec Ws0-Geth00200 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Default Accounts (T1078.001); ranked in the top 36% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A02:2025 Security Misconfiguration

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Active Debug Code vulnerability in Mitsubishi Electric Corporation MELSEC WS Series WS0-GETH00200 Serial number 2310 **** and prior allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to bypass authentication and illegally log into the affected module by connecting to it via telnet which…

more

is hidden function and is enabled by default when shipped from the factory. As a result, a remote attacker with unauthorized login can reset the module, and if certain conditions are met, he/she can disclose or tamper with the module's configuration or rewrite the firmware.

CWE(s)
CWE-489CWE-1188

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 →
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 →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
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 →
T1542.002 Component Firmware Stealth
Adversaries may modify component firmware to persist on systems.
attack.mitre.org →
T1556 Modify Authentication Process Defense Impairment
Adversaries may modify authentication mechanisms and processes to access user credentials or enable otherwise unwarranted access to accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-6374Same product: Mitsubishielectric Melsec Ws0-Geth00200
CVE-2023-6942Same vendor: Mitsubishielectric
CVE-2023-2061Same vendor: Mitsubishielectric
CVE-2023-2060Same vendor: Mitsubishielectric
CVE-2023-4699Same vendor: Mitsubishielectric
CVE-2023-4562Same vendor: Mitsubishielectric
CVE-2023-6815Same vendor: Mitsubishielectric
CVE-2023-0457Same vendor: Mitsubishielectric
CVE-2023-5247Same vendor: Mitsubishielectric
CVE-2026-1876Same vendor: Mitsubishielectric

Affected Assets

mitsubishielectric
melsec ws0-geth00200 firmware
all versions

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 13 hardening rules · 7 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V14.3.2
  • V6.3.2
  • V11.3.1
  • V13.2.3

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.

CM-1 Policy and Procedures
addresses: CWE-1188

Requires documented secure initialization practices and avoidance of insecure defaults in configuration baselines.

CM-2 Baseline Configuration
addresses: CWE-1188

Reviewing and updating baseline when components are installed or upgraded prevents initialization with insecure defaults.

CM-7 Least Functionality
addresses: CWE-1188

Requiring explicit configuration to minimal functionality overrides insecure defaults that would otherwise enable excess capabilities.

PL-11 Baseline Tailoring
addresses: CWE-1188

Tailoring replaces or augments insecure default initializations with system-specific values and compensating controls before deployment.

PL-9 Central Management
addresses: CWE-1188

Central configuration overrides or replaces insecure default initializations that would otherwise be left unchanged on each system.

PM-30 Supply Chain Risk Management Strategy
addresses: CWE-1188

SCRM practices during acquisition and configuration management address insecure default initializations shipped by vendors.

RA-5 Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning
addresses: CWE-1188

Scans detect resources initialized with insecure defaults that create exploitable conditions.

SA-16 Developer-provided Training
addresses: CWE-1188

Instruction on secure initialization of security controls prevents leaving resources with insecure defaults after installation.

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.PS-01 full match
prevents

Hardened baselines and configuration management directly replace insecure defaults with secure settings.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require removal of debug code before release, covering most of this weakness while the control addresses many other development issues.

ID.RA-09 partial match
prevents

Pre-acquisition integrity checks can reject products known to ship with insecure defaults.

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.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development and acceptance catches active debug code before deployment.

A.8.9 Configuration management mostly match
prevents

Configuration management can disable or remove debug features through hardened baselines.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates removal of debug code before release.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly prohibit leaving debug code active in production.

A.8.31 Separation of development, test and production environments partial match
prevents

Separation of environments reduces risk of debug code reaching production but does not directly address its removal.

A.8.32 Change management partial match
prevents

Change management can enforce removal of debug code as part of release gates.

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 (1 rule)
  • V-248823 OL 8 must not have the telnet-server package installed. prevents CWE-1188
RHEL 7 (1 rule)
  • V-204627 SNMP community strings on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be changed from the default. prevents CWE-1188
Ubuntu 22.04 (1 rule)
  • V-260529 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS must be configured so that remote X connections are disabled, unless to fulfill documented and validated mission requirements. prevents CWE-1188
Ubuntu 24.04 (1 rule)
  • V-270708 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS must be configured so that remote X connections are disabled, unless to fulfill documented and validated mission requirements. prevents CWE-1188
Windows Server 2016 (1 rule)
  • V-224972 Active Directory Group Policy objects must have proper access control permissions. prevents CWE-1188
Windows Server 2019 (1 rule)
  • V-205741 Windows Server 2019 Active Directory Group Policy objects must have proper access control permissions. prevents CWE-1188

References