Vulnerability Database

328,409

Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2018-16556

A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC S7-400 CPU 412-1 DP V7 (All versions), SIMATIC S7-400 CPU 412-2 DP V7 (All versions), SIMATIC S7-400 CPU 414-2 DP V7 (All versions), SIMATIC S7-400 CPU 414-3 DP V7 (All versions), SIMATIC S7-400 CPU 414-3 PN/DP V7 (All versions < V7.0.3), SIMATIC S7-400 CPU 414F-3 PN/DP V7 (All versions < V7.0.3), SIMATIC S7-400 CPU 416-2 DP V7 (All versions), SIMATIC S7-400 CPU 416-3 DP V7 (All versions), SIMATIC S7-400 CPU 416-3 PN/DP V7 (All versions < V7.0.3), SIMATIC S7-400 CPU 416F-2 DP V7 (All versions), SIMATIC S7-400 CPU 416F-3 PN/DP V7 (All versions < V7.0.3), SIMATIC S7-400 CPU 417-4 DP V7 (All versions), SIMATIC S7-400 CPU 412-2 PN V7 (All versions < V7.0.3), SIMATIC S7-400 H V4.5 and below CPU family (incl. SIPLUS variants) (All versions), SIMATIC S7-400 H V6 CPU family (incl. SIPLUS variants) (All versions < V6.0.9), SIMATIC S7-400 PN/DP V6 and below CPU family (incl. SIPLUS variants) (All versions), SIMATIC S7-410 CPU family (incl. SIPLUS variants) (All versions < V8.2.1), SIPLUS S7-400 CPU 414-3 PN/DP V7 (All versions < V7.0.3), SIPLUS S7-400 CPU 416-3 PN/DP V7 (All versions < V7.0.3), SIPLUS S7-400 CPU 416-3 V7 (All versions), SIPLUS S7-400 CPU 417-4 V7 (All versions). Specially crafted packets sent to port 102/tcp via Ethernet interface, via PROFIBUS, or via Multi Point Interfaces (MPI) could cause the affected devices to go into defect mode. Manual reboot is required to resume normal operation.

Successful exploitation requires an attacker to be able to send specially crafted packets to port 102/tcp via Ethernet interface, via PROFIBUS or Multi Point Interfaces (MPI). No user interaction and no user privileges are required to exploit the security vulnerability. The vulnerability could allow causing a denial of service condition of the core functionality of the CPU, compromising the availability of the system.

  • Published: Dec 13, 2018
  • Updated: Nov 9, 2025
  • CVE: CVE-2018-16556
  • Severity: High
  • Exploit:

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: High
  • Score: 7.5
  • AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS v2:

  • Severity: High
  • Score: 7.8
  • AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

CWEs:

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.