CVE-2022-21798

Operational changes via cleartext credential spoofing

Published Feb 25, 2022 · Updated Apr 16, 2025

Cleartext credential transmission in all General Electric Proficy CIMPLICITY versions allows attackers to alter operations via spoofed logins. CIMPLICITY network communications transmit login credentials without encryption, exposing reusable values that can be captured and impersonated. Network-path access is required; captured credentials permit login and operational changes to the monitored industrial system.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability0.61%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Cleartext credential transmission in all General Electric Proficy CIMPLICITY versions allows attackers to alter operations via spoofed logins. CIMPLICITY network communications transmit login credentials without encryption, exposing reusable values that can be captured and impersonated. Network-path access is required; captured credentials permit login and operational changes to the monitored industrial system.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-21798
Published
Feb 25, 2022
Updated
Apr 16, 2025
Vendor
General Electric
Product
Proficy CIMPLICITY
Classifications
CWE-319, T1557
Attack vector
adjacent
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 25, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 16, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=all

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectoradjacent
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

General Electric · Proficy CIMPLICITYversion=all

Published CVSS scores

7.5ICS-CERTCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
9.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.5NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectoradjacent
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-319Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information
T1557Adversary-in-the-Middle

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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