Security Resilience

CVE-2023-50220

RCE in Inductiveautomation Ignition 8.1.0 – 8.1.35

Published
03 May 2024
Modified
12 March 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.018 79th percentile
Risk Priority 71 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-50220 is a high-severity Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502) vulnerability in Inductiveautomation Ignition. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Junk Data (T1001.001); ranked in the top 21% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2023-50220 is a remote code execution vulnerability in Inductive Automation Ignition stemming from unsafe deserialization in the Base64Element class. The flaw arises from insufficient validation of user-supplied data, allowing an attacker to trigger deserialization of untrusted content. It affects Ignition installations and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8 with the CWE-502 designation.

Authenticated remote attackers can exploit the issue over the network to execute arbitrary code with SYSTEM-level privileges. No user interaction is required beyond valid credentials, and the attack can fully compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability on the target system.

Vendor advisories from Inductive Automation and the Zero Day Initiative (ZDI-24-015) address the flaw; the EPSS score has remained flat at 0.0708 with no material increase since disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Inductive Automation Ignition Base64Element Deserialization of Untrusted Data Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Inductive Automation Ignition. Authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within…

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the Base64Element class. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in deserialization of untrusted data. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of SYSTEM. Was ZDI-CAN-21801.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.001 Junk Data Command And Control
Adversaries may add junk data to protocols used for command and control to make detection more difficult.
T1001.003 Protocol or Service Impersonation Command And Control
Adversaries may impersonate legitimate protocols or web service traffic to disguise command and control activity and thwart analysis efforts.
T1003.001 LSASS Memory Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credential material stored in the process memory of the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS).
T1003.007 Proc Filesystem Credential Access
Adversaries may gather credentials from the proc filesystem or `/proc`.
T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
T1006 Direct Volume Access Stealth
Adversaries may directly access a volume to bypass file access controls and file system monitoring.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-13913Same product: Inductiveautomation Ignition
CVE-2023-50219Same product: Inductiveautomation Ignition
CVE-2023-50221Same product: Inductiveautomation Ignition
CVE-2023-50218Same product: Inductiveautomation Ignition
CVE-2023-50223Same product: Inductiveautomation Ignition
CVE-2023-50222Same product: Inductiveautomation Ignition
CVE-2023-39475Same product: Inductiveautomation Ignition
CVE-2023-39476Same product: Inductiveautomation Ignition
CVE-2023-39473Same product: Inductiveautomation Ignition
CVE-2023-39474Same product: Inductiveautomation Ignition

Affected Assets

inductiveautomation
ignition
8.1.0 — 8.1.35

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation can uncover deserialization flaws before deployment.

Input validation directly stops deserialization of untrusted data by ensuring inputs are valid before processing.

Engineering principles such as safe deserialization and input sanitization structurally prevent the weakness from being introduced.

Integrity verification tools can detect malformed or tampered serialized data after the fact.

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-02 none match
blocks

PR.PS-02 addresses only post-deployment updates/patching and cannot prevent introduction of unsafe deserialization code, yet it can remediate some instances when the flaw exists in outdated libraries or components.

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.

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References