The affected versions of S+ Operations (version 2.1 SP1 and earlier) used an approach for user authentication which relies on validation at the client node (client-side authentication). This is not as secure as having the server validate a client application before allowing a connection. Therefore, if the network communication or endpoints for these applications are not protected, unauthorized actors can bypass authentication and make unauthorized connections to the server application.

References

• https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-24683
• https://search.abb.com/library/Download.aspx?DocumentID=2PAA123980&LanguageCode=en&DocumentPartId=&Action=Launch