1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- CVSS v3 7.8
- ATTENTION: Low attack complexity
- Vendor: Festo SE & Co. KG
- Equipment: Didactic products
- Vulnerability: Improper Input Validation
2. RISK EVALUATION
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow the creation or overwriting of arbitrary files in the engineering system.
3. TECHNICAL DETAILS
3.1 AFFECTED PRODUCTS
Festo reports that the following products contain affected versions of Siemens TIA-Portal:
- Siemens TIA-Portal V15 prior to V17 Update 6 installed on Festo Hardware MES PC: All versions
- Siemens TIA-Portal V18 prior to V18 Update 1 installed on Festo Hardware MES PC: All versions
- Siemens TIA-Portal V15 prior to V17 Update 6 installed on Festo Hardware TP260 (<June2023): All versions
- Siemens TIA-Portal V18 prior to V18 Update 1 installed on Festo Hardware TP260 (<June2023): All versions
3.2 VULNERABILITY OVERVIEW
3.2.1 Improper Input Validation CWE-20
A vulnerability has been identified in Siemens Totally Integrated Automation Portal (TIA Portal) V15, V16, V17, and V18. The affected products contain a path traversal vulnerability that could allow the creation or overwriting of arbitrary files in the engineering system. If the user is tricked into opening a malicious PC system configuration file, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to achieve arbitrary code execution.
CVE-2023-26293 has been assigned to this vulnerability. A CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 has been calculated; the CVSS vector string is (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
3.3 BACKGROUND
- CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECTORS: Commercial Facilities, Communications, Critical Manufacturing, Energy
- COUNTRIES/AREAS DEPLOYED: Worldwide
- COMPANY HEADQUARTERS LOCATION: Germany
3.4 RESEARCHER
Festo coordinated this vulnerability with CERT@VDE.
4. MITIGATIONS
Festo recommends users of affected devices update TIA-Portal. Refer to Siemens SSA-116924 for more details.
For more information, see the associated Festo SE & Co. KG security advisory FSA-202303 FSA-202303: Festo: Vulnerable Siemens TIA-Portal in multiple Festo Didactic products – HTML and FSA-202303: Festo: Vulnerable Siemens TIA-Portal in multiple Festo Didactic products – CSAF.
CISA recommends users take the following measures to protect themselves from social engineering attacks:
- Do not click web links or open attachments in unsolicited email messages.
- Refer to Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams for more information on avoiding email scams.
- Refer to Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks for more information on social engineering attacks.
CISA reminds organizations to perform proper impact analysis and risk assessment prior to deploying defensive measures.
CISA also provides a section for control systems security recommended practices on the ICS webpage on cisa.gov. Several CISA products detailing cyber defense best practices are available for reading and download, including Improving Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity with Defense-in-Depth Strategies.
CISA encourages organizations to implement recommended cybersecurity strategies for proactive defense of ICS assets.
Additional mitigation guidance and recommended practices are publicly available on the ICS webpage at cisa.gov in the technical information paper, ICS-TIP-12-146-01B–Targeted Cyber Intrusion Detection and Mitigation Strategies.
Organizations observing suspected malicious activity should follow established internal procedures and report findings to CISA for tracking and correlation against other incidents.
No known public exploitation specifically targeting this vulnerability has been reported to CISA at this time. This vulnerability is not exploitable remotely.
5. UPDATE HISTORY
- November 20, 2025: Initial Republication of Festo FSA-202303
