Security updates for Mathcad Prime 7

[VijayN]

Hi,

I see that PTC released a maintenance release for Mathcad Prime 10. So I wanted to ask if PTC is still maintaining Mathcad Prime 7 - and whether it would release maintenance release for Prime 7 - if a critical security vulnerability on Prime 7 is identified. 

[Werner_E]

What kind of "critical security vulnerability" do you have in mind?

But anyway - the answer to your question is "no". There will be no further Prime 7 releases. The support to that version is limited to being able to create new license files in case you have to move the software from one computer to another machine.

BTW, whats the reason that you don't upgrade to the current version?

[VijayN]

ok, thanks for this update.

The main reason for not upgrading is that my users did not find the performance level of Prime 9 acceptable and decided to stick with Prime 7. So I wanted to understand whether running Prime 7 can expose the machine to any security vulnerabilities. 

[Werner_E]

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So I wanted to understand whether running Prime 7 can expose the machine to any security vulnerabilities. 

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To the best of my knowledge, no, as i assume we would have heard of such vulnerabilities here in the forum. But of course you never can be absolutely sure.

But PTC will not touch older versions of Prime as you are supposed to upgrade to the latest one (which currently is 10.0.1.0) - with all its pros and cons.

[VijayN]

Hi @Werner_E 

Thanks, and appreciate your response. But I still have some queries about the security vulnerabilities management process being followed by PTC for its software.  

Let's say that there is a critical vulnerability similar to the log4j vulnerability that happened some time back - and let's assume that Mathcad Prime software uses the software for which the vulnerability has been detected, my question is about the response from PTC. 

- Would PTC release an emergency hotfix for only the latest Mathcad Prime version? OR 

- Would PTC release an emergency hotfix for all the Mathcad Prime versions - which are listed as under standard and extended support as per this link -https://support.ptc.com/cs/release-calendar/index.html?productFamilyIdList=24 ? OR 

- Would PTC release an emergency hotfix for all the Mathcad Prime versions - including Mathcad Prime 7 and subsequent versions (Understand that PTC has already announced End of Life/Sale for Mathcad Prime 1 to 6 ) ? OR 

- Would PTC release a maintenance release (not an emergency hotfix) at a pre-defined release window for either the latest or older versions? OR 

I guess this question should be directed to the security team for PTC products. But any response from the community would also be welcome. 

Warm Regards

Vijay

[Werner_E]

This is a support forum where users of the software try to help others - it is not official PTC software support. I am therefore not affiliated with PTC in any way, other than the fact that I use one of their software products.
Thus, my statements here are my personal opinion and not an official statement from PTC.

I can't imagine that PTC is still in any way releasing changes, hot fixes or whatever for older versions of Prime. As Stuart has already written, the latest version is seen as the maintenance release for all previous versions.

So if a security vulnerability is discovered now, it may be fixed in a deferred version 10.0.2.0 or 10.0.1.1 (no idea how PTC sees this numbering) and users of older versions are invited to upgrade to that version.

Until now, PTC has released one new release per year, but recently the plan has been to release an interim version after six months, which does not contain any new features, but bug fixes. 10.0.1.0 is one (the first) of these interim versions.

However, for a viable official answer to your questions, you would need to contact the official PTC support.

[VijayN]

Thanks @Werner_E  and @StuartBruff  - for your responses. 👍

[StuartBruff · Accepted solution]

You are quite right that only PTC can answer this question.  However, ...

If I'm reading it correctly, your support link shows Mathcad Prime 7 as being beyond its Extended Support cut-off date.

Product  Mathcad Prime	Release	Release Date	Standard Support End Date	Extended Support End Date
Mathcad Prime	7.0.0.0	Mar 9, 2021	Mar 15, 2022	Mar 15, 2024

Furthermore, the small print says:

Standard Support	See Gold & Platinum Enterprise Support in PTC's Terms and Conditions document for a complete description of services included. https://www.ptc.com/legal-agreements/support-documents PTC products are in the Standard Support period starting from the first customer ship date (FCS). Standard Support refers to the period during which active GOLD, GOLDplus or PLATINUM customers can submit Technical Support cases, have access to SPR fixes via maintenance releases, have access to critical patch sets and have access to new versions of PTC software for the products they own. Each product in the PTC Product Release Calendar specifies when the Standard Support period ends. For specific PTC Windchill products, Standard Support is available for 4 years from FCS.
Sustained Support	Sustained Support for a version of a PTC product, if purchased, entails access to PTC’s online self-help support resources (e.g., the “knowledge base” for a particular product) and, for the first two years after PTC discontinues Standard Support for such version, assistance from PTC Technical Support. PTC’s Technical Support organization will endeavor to assist the Customer for the issue at hand, and Customer will have access to pre-existing maintenance releases/patches and bug/SPR fixes , as well as new releases of PTC Software , but Sustained Support does not include PTC creating new maintenance releases, security patches or bug/SPR fixes for the version under Sustained Support.
Extended Support	For qualified PTC Windchill products and releases, customers may extend their Support coverage for a product release by purchasing Extended Support for 1 additional year. Extended Support refers to the period during which PTC provides many of the same services as Standard Support for an additional fee. Extended Support is only available for certain PTC products and software releases and includes SPR fixes via special releases. For qualified contracts, Extended Support may be renewed for one additional year.

Has your organisation purchased the extended Extended Support?  If not, I think you are snookered.

Stuart

[VijayN]

Hi @StuartBruff - Thanks a lot for all this info. I think I will get this cross-verified with the contract owner for PTC products at my org. I think this response directly answers my queries, and hence i will accept this as the solution to my post. 

Warm Regards

Vijay

[StuartBruff]

No problem, Vijay.

Stuart

[StuartBruff]

I believe that, in general, the current release of Mathcad Prime is the maintenance release for all versions before it.

Stuart