What is CVE-2022-38465?
A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC Drive Controller family (All versions < V2.9.2), SIMATIC ET 200SP Open Controller CPU 1515SP PC (incl. SIPLUS variants) (All versions), SIMATIC ET 200SP Open Controller CPU 1515SP PC2 (incl. SIPLUS variants) (All versions < V21.9), SIMATIC S7-1200 CPU family (incl. SIPLUS variants) (All versions < V4.5.0), SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU family (incl. related ET200 CPUs and SIPLUS variants) (All versions < V2.9.2), SIMATIC S7-1500 Software Controller (All versions < V21.9), SIMATIC S7-PLCSIM Advanced (All versions < V4.0), SINUMERIK MC (All versions < V6.21), SINUMERIK ONE (All versions < V6.21). Affected products protect the built-in global private key in a way that cannot be considered sufficient any longer. The key is used for the legacy protection of confidential configuration data and the legacy PG/PC and HMI communication. This could allow attackers to discover the private key of a CPU product family by an offline attack against a single CPU of the family. Attackers could then use this knowledge to extract confidential configuration data from projects that are protected by that key or to perform attacks against legacy PG/PC and HMI communication.
The record classifies CVE-2022-38465 under weakness class CWE-522. Its CVSS v3 base vector states that the flaw requires local access to the host, needs no prior authentication, needs no user interaction, and has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability. 9 affected-product entries are recorded, across 1 vendor, listed below. The identifier was first published 1465 days ago.
Severity and exploitation probability
- CVSS v3.1 base score
- 9.3 — CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C - EPSS (FIRST)
- 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 14.0% of all scored CVEs
- CISA KEV
- Not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
- Threadlinqs priority
- 7.2/10 — a Threadlinqs composite of the CVSS base score, the EPSS percentile and public exploit availability
- Published
- 2022-10-11, last modified 2025-04-21
Is CVE-2022-38465 being exploited?
Weaponised exploit code for CVE-2022-38465 is publicly available. 1 public proof-of-concept repository is tracked for this identifier. It currently carries a trending score of 17 in the Threadlinqs vulnerability feed.
- trickest/cve (trickest)
Affected products and versions
- Siemens: SIMATIC Drive Controller family, SIMATIC ET 200SP Open Controller CPU 1515SP PC (incl. SIPLUS variants), SIMATIC ET 200SP Open Controller CPU 1515SP PC2 (incl. SIPLUS variants), SIMATIC S7-1200 CPU family (incl. SIPLUS variants), SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU family (incl. related ET200 CPUs and SIPLUS variants), SIMATIC S7-1500 Software Controller, SIMATIC S7-PLCSIM Advanced, SINUMERIK MC, SINUMERIK ONE
How to fix CVE-2022-38465
No vendor patch reference has been recorded for CVE-2022-38465 in the tracked sources. Follow the references below for a fix, and treat the products listed above as exposed until the vendor states otherwise.
Threat activity tracking CVE-2022-38465
1 tracked threat in the Threadlinqs corpus references CVE-2022-38465, either in the campaign’s CVE list or as an indicator on the campaign record.
- AI-Powered Attacks Targeting Siemens S7 Series PLCs in U.S. Critical Infrastructure — CRITICAL · 2026-08-19
Sources
Enriched from CVE.org, FIRST EPSS, public proof-of-concept repositories. Last verified by Threadlinqs on .