CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-24683 — Abb Symphony + Historian security vulnerability

Critical CVSS 9.8

The affected versions of S+ Operations (version 2.1 SP1 and earlier) used an approach for user authentication which relies on validation at the client node (client-side authentication). This is not as secure as having the server validate a client application before allowing a connection. Therefore, if the network communication or endpoints for these applications are not protected, unauthorized actors can bypass authentication and make unauthorized connections to the server application.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.1)
Published
2020-12-22
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-305, CWE-602, CWE-669

Affected products

  • abb / symphony_+_historian / 3.0
  • abb / symphony_+_historian / 3.1
  • abb / symphony_+_operations / 1.1
  • abb / symphony_+_operations / 2.0
  • abb / symphony_+_operations / 2.1
  • abb / symphony_+_operations / 3.0

Showing 6 representative product identities from 10 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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