VulnerabilityPublished 12 Aug 2025Updated 14 Oct 2025

CVE-2025-40584: Siemens SIMOTION SCOUT TIA V5.4 · XML External Entity (XXE)

Affects Siemens SIMOTION SCOUT TIA V5.4Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 15:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 6% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 12 Aug 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Siemens SIMOTION SCOUT TIA V5.4	Affected =0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Organizations should prioritize applying Siemens patches and updates as soon as they become available for the affected SIMOTION SCOUT TIA and SINAMICS STARTER versions. Until patches are deployed, restrict access to systems running these applications to trusted personnel only, and enforce strict file system permissions to limit the impact of potential XXE exploitation. Validate and sanitize all XML inputs rigorously, employing XML parsers configured to disable external entity processing where possible. Implement network segmentation to isolate industrial control systems from general IT networks and external internet access. Conduct user training to raise awareness about the risks of opening untrusted XML files and enforce policies to prevent execution of unverified files. Regularly audit logs and monitor for unusual file access patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts.

Description

A vulnerability has been identified in SIMOTION SCOUT TIA V5.4 (All versions), SIMOTION SCOUT TIA V5.5 (All versions), SIMOTION SCOUT TIA V5.6 (All versions < V5.6 SP1 HF7), SIMOTION SCOUT TIA V5.7 (All versions < V5.7 SP1 HF1), SIMOTION SCOUT V5.4 (All versions), SIMOTION SCOUT V5.5 (All versions), SIMOTION SCOUT V5.6 (All versions < V5.6 SP1 HF7), SIMOTION SCOUT V5.7 (All versions < V5.7 SP1 HF1), SINAMICS STARTER V5.5 (All versions), SINAMICS STARTER V5.6 (All versions), SINAMICS STARTER V5.7 (All versions < V5.7 HF2). The affected application contains a XML External Entity Injection (XXE) vulnerability while parsing specially crafted XML files. This could allow an attacker to read arbitrary files in the system.

Impact

For European organizations, particularly those in manufacturing, industrial automation, and critical infrastructure sectors that rely on Siemens SIMOTION SCOUT TIA and SINAMICS STARTER products, this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive files. This may include configuration files, credentials, or operational data, which could facilitate further attacks or industrial espionage. The confidentiality breach could undermine operational security and intellectual property protection. Since exploitation requires local access and user interaction, the risk is somewhat mitigated but remains significant in environments where insider threats or compromised user accounts exist. The impact on availability and integrity is minimal, but the exposure of sensitive information could have cascading effects on operational trust and compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR.

CWE-611Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A02:2025: Security Misconfiguration (opens in a new tab)
The product processes an XML document that can contain XML entities with URIs that resolve to documents outside of the intended sphere of control, causing the product to embed incorrect documents into its output.
Implementation · System Configuration
Many XML parsers and validators can be configured to disable external entity expansion.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
XML External Entity Prevention (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.5.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Data Serialization External Entities Blowup (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-186293.html (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 14 Oct 2025, 09:44 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-611

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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