CVE-2020-24685 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2020-24685
Vulnerability Scoring

8.6
/10
Severe Risk

Cybersecurity professionals consider CVE-2020-24685 an immediate threat requiring urgent mitigation.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: Low
    Exploits can be performed without significant complexity or special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Network
    Vulnerability is exploitable over a network without physical access.
  • Privileges Required: None
    No privileges are required for exploitation.
  • Scope: Changed
    Successful exploitation can impact components beyond the vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: None
    No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2020-24685 Details

Status: Analyzed

Last updated: 🕓 16 Feb 2021, 16:09 UTC
Originally published on: 🕓 09 Feb 2021, 04:15 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 7 days

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

nvd@nist.gov

CVSS3 Type

Primary

CVSS3 Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVE-2020-24685 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2020-24685: An unauthenticated specially crafted packet sent by an attacker over the network will cause a denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability. Vulnerability allows attacker to stop the PLC. After stopping (ERR LED flashing red), physical access to the PLC is required in order to restart the application. This issue affects: ABB AC500 V2 products with onboard Ethernet version 2.8.4 and prior versions.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2020-24685

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2020-24685 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2020-24685

With low attack complexity and no required privileges, CVE-2020-24685 is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations should prioritize immediate mitigation measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2020-24685, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2020-24685, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: None
    CVE-2020-24685 has no significant impact on data confidentiality.
  • Integrity: None
    CVE-2020-24685 poses no threat to data integrity.
  • Availability: High
    CVE-2020-24685 can disrupt system operations, potentially causing complete denial of service (DoS).

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.

EPSS Score: 0.103% (probability of exploit)

EPSS Percentile: 44.34% (lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 55.66% of others.

CVE-2020-24685 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-789

Vulnerable Configurations

  • cpe:2.3:h:abb:pm573-eth:2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:h:abb:pm573-eth:2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:h:abb:pm583-eth:2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:h:abb:pm583-eth:2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.4.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.4.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.5.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.5.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.5.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.5.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.7.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.7.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.8.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:abb:ac500_cpu_firmware:2.8.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

Protect Your Infrastructure against CVE-2020-24685: Combat Critical CVE Threats

Stay updated with real-time CVE vulnerabilities and take action to secure your systems. Enhance your cybersecurity posture with the latest threat intelligence and mitigation techniques. Develop the skills necessary to defend against CVEs and secure critical infrastructures. Join the top cybersecurity professionals safeguarding today's infrastructures.

Other 5 Recently Published CVEs Vulnerabilities

  • CVE-2025-2130 – A vulnerability was found in OpenXE up to 1.12. It has been declared as problematic. This vulnerability affects unknown code of the component Ticke...
  • CVE-2025-26205 – Lua 5.4.7, when the debug library is used, has a out-of-bounds read and segmentation violation in mainpositionTV in ltable.c. NOTE: this is dispute...
  • CVE-2025-26204 – Lua 5.4.7, when the debug library is used, has a out-of-bounds read and segmentation violation in equalkey in ltable.c. NOTE: this is disputed beca...
  • CVE-2025-2129 – A vulnerability was found in Mage AI 0.9.75. It has been classified as problematic. This affects an unknown part. The manipulation leads to insecur...
  • CVE-2025-2127 – A vulnerability was found in JoomlaUX JUX Real Estate 3.4.0 on Joomla. It has been classified as problematic. Affected is an unknown function of th...