Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2020-12521


On Phoenix Contact PLCnext Control Devices versions before 2021.0 LTS a specially crafted LLDP packet may lead to a high system load in the PROFINET stack. An attacker can cause failure of system services or a complete reboot.


Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.5, indicating it requires adjacent network access with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 7 products from phoenixcontact, from phoenixcontact, from phoenixcontact and 4 others, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Reported in 2020, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.


Published

2020-12-17T23:15:13.137

Last Modified

2024-11-21T04:59:51.477

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 6.5 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:A/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

  • Access Vector: ADJACENT_NETWORK
  • Access Complexity: LOW
  • Authentication: NONE
  • Confidentiality Impact: NONE
  • Integrity Impact: NONE
  • Availability Impact: COMPLETE
Exploitability Score

6.5

Impact Score

6.9

Weaknesses
  • Type: Secondary
    CWE-20
  • Type: Primary
    CWE-20

Affected Vendors & Products
Type Vendor Product Version/Range Vulnerable?
Operating System phoenixcontact plcnext_firmware < 2021.0 Yes
Hardware phoenixcontact axc_f_1152 - No
Operating System phoenixcontact plcnext_firmware < 2021.0 Yes
Hardware phoenixcontact axc_f_2152 - No
Operating System phoenixcontact plcnext_firmware < 2021.0 Yes
Hardware phoenixcontact axc_f_3152 - No
Operating System phoenixcontact plcnext_firmware < 2021.0 Yes
Hardware phoenixcontact rfc_4072s - No
Operating System phoenixcontact plcnext_firmware < 2021.0 Yes
Hardware phoenixcontact axc_f_2152_starterkit - No
Operating System phoenixcontact plcnext_firmware < 2021.0 Yes
Hardware phoenixcontact plcnext_technology_starterkit - No

References

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For phoenixcontact's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.