Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:NCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-38558 is a medium-severity Insertion of Sensitive Information into Externally-Accessible File or Directory (CWE-538) vulnerability in Siemens Simatic Pcs Neo. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Direct Volume Access (T1006); ranked at the 7th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-42357
Vulnerability Data
A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC PCS neo (Administration Console) V4.0 (All versions), SIMATIC PCS neo (Administration Console) V4.0 Update 1 (All versions). The affected application leaks Windows admin credentials. An attacker with local access to the Administration Console…
more
could get the credentials, and impersonate the admin user, thereby gaining admin access to other Windows systems.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
V14.1.2V14.2.8
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.
Pre- and post-publication reviews prevent insertion of sensitive information into externally-accessible public locations.
Controls whether organization resources are exposed to external system spheres by permitting or prohibiting their use.
The control ensures information is not released into a security sphere where the recipient lacks matching access authorizations.
Protects against data mining that would expose resources to unauthorized spheres by enforcing detection and controls.
Restricts information flows to ensure resources are not exposed to incorrect or unauthorized spheres.
Monitors for sensitive information placed in externally accessible files or directories.
Controlling internal connections prevents exposure of resources to unintended internal spheres.
Knowing exact processing and storage locations helps avoid exposure of resources to incorrect spheres.
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.
Least-privilege file and directory permissions directly prevent unauthorized actors from reading sensitive data placed in accessible locations.
Protecting data-at-rest encompasses file-level access controls and encryption that stop exposure of sensitive information in externally reachable paths.
Hardened configuration baselines and ongoing config management reduce the chance that sensitive data is written to world-readable files or directories.
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.
By ensuring that only the minimum necessary data is present in files or directories that may be reachable by external parties, the control lowers the impact of any subsequent exposure.
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` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
- V-248579 OL 8 must restrict access to the kernel message buffer. blocks CWE-538
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
- V-230269 RHEL 8 must restrict access to the kernel message buffer. blocks CWE-538