CVE-2016-8567 Siemens CVE debrief

Who should care

Siemens SICAM PAS and related PQS operators, OT/ICS administrators, database administrators, network defenders, and incident responders responsible for industrial control environments that may expose port 2638/TCP.

Technical summary

NVD identifies the affected Siemens CPE as sicam_pas/pqs versions before 8.00, with CVSS 3.1 vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (9.8). The weakness is mapped to CWE-798 (Use of Hard-coded Credentials). According to the supplied description, a factory account with hard-coded passwords exists in SICAM PAS installations and may allow privileged database access over TCP port 2638. The condition is externally reachable, requires no user interaction, and can affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability at the highest level.

Defensive priority

Critical. This is a network-accessible hard-coded credential issue in an industrial product, with a 9.8 CVSS score and potential privileged database access. Treat affected installations as urgent remediation candidates.

Recommended defensive actions

• Identify all Siemens SICAM PAS/PQS deployments and verify whether any instance is running before version 8.00.
• Upgrade affected systems to Siemens SICAM PAS 8.00 or later, which is outside the vulnerable version range stated in the advisory data.
• Restrict and monitor access to TCP port 2638/TCP so only necessary trusted hosts can reach the database service.
• Review whether the factory account is present or used anywhere in the environment and treat any exposure as a credential compromise risk.
• Segment SICAM PAS systems from broader networks and limit administrative and database access paths.
• Check logs, authentication records, and service exposure for signs of unauthorized database access related to the affected port or account.
• Coordinate remediation and validation with Siemens guidance and the referenced ICS-CERT advisory material.

Evidence notes

This debrief is based only on the supplied CVE record, NVD metadata, and referenced official/third-party advisory links included in the source corpus. The core facts used are: Siemens SICAM PAS before 8.00 is affected; a factory account with hard-coded passwords exists; privileged database access may be gained over port 2638/TCP; and NVD classifies the weakness as CWE-798 with a 9.8 CVSS 3.1 score. The CVE publication date used for disclosure context is 2017-02-13, not the later NVD modification timestamp.

Sources and 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.