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PatchSiren cyber security CVE debrief

CVE-2016-8566 Siemens CVE debrief

CVE-2016-8566 is a credential-handling weakness in Siemens SICAM PAS before 8.00. According to the NVD record, an authenticated local attacker with certain privileges could possibly reconstruct passwords used by users to access the database. The issue was publicly disclosed on 2017-02-13 and later updated in the NVD record on 2026-05-13. Because the impact includes exposure of database access credentials, this is a high-priority issue for environments running affected Siemens SICAM PAS versions.

Vendor
Siemens
Product
Sicam Pas/pqs
CVSS
HIGH 7.8
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2016-09-04
Original CVE updated
2025-06-05
Advisory published
2016-09-04
Advisory updated
2025-06-05

Who should care

OT/ICS operators using Siemens SICAM PAS, system administrators responsible for the host running the software, database administrators, and security teams managing privileged local access should prioritize this issue. Organizations that rely on database credentials protected by SICAM PAS are most exposed.

Technical summary

NVD maps the affected product as Siemens SICAM PAS/PQS versions before 8.00 and describes the weakness as storing passwords in a recoverable format. The attack requires a local, authenticated attacker with certain privileges. NVD assigns CVSS v3.1 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and CWE-255. The likely security consequence is disclosure of database-access passwords and resulting compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability within the affected environment.

Defensive priority

High. Although the attack requires local authenticated access, the potential to reconstruct database passwords can enable broader compromise of the affected system and connected data. In industrial or operational environments, credential exposure can have outsized impact, so remediation should be treated as urgent for any affected installation.

Recommended defensive actions

  • Upgrade Siemens SICAM PAS to version 8.00 or later, following vendor guidance.
  • Review and restrict local privileged access on hosts running SICAM PAS.
  • Audit database accounts and rotate any credentials that may have been exposed.
  • Check whether any downstream systems or services reuse affected credentials and rotate those as well.
  • Consult the Siemens/ICS-CERT advisory for vendor-specific mitigation and validation steps.
  • Monitor for unauthorized use of database credentials and unexpected local administrative activity.

Evidence notes

All statements are based on the supplied NVD-derived record and referenced advisory links. The affected version boundary (before 8.00), attack prerequisites (authenticated local attacker with certain privileges), impact (possible reconstruction of database-access passwords), CVSS vector, and CWE-255 come from the provided source item metadata. No exploit details or unsupported operational claims are included.

Sources and references

Verified primary and authoritative sources

  • CVE-2016-8566 CVE Program record

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-8566

    CVE Program - Official CVE Program record with source-provided CVE metadata.

  • CVE-2016-8566 NVD vulnerability detail

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-8566

    NIST National Vulnerability Database - Official NIST NVD detail page and source-specific vulnerability assessment.

Supplemental references

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.