Critical Vulnerabilities in CloudCharge's Platform Threaten Global EV Charging Networks
Executive Summary
In February 2026, multiple critical vulnerabilities were identified in CloudCharge's cloudcharge.se platform, which manages electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure globally. These vulnerabilities include missing authentication for critical functions (CVE-2026-20781), improper restriction of excessive authentication attempts (CVE-2026-25114), insufficient session expiration (CVE-2026-27652), and insufficiently protected credentials (CVE-2026-20733). Exploitation of these flaws could allow attackers to impersonate charging stations, hijack sessions, suppress or misroute legitimate traffic, and manipulate data sent to the backend, potentially leading to large-scale denial of service and unauthorized control over charging infrastructure. (therealistjuggernaut.com)
The discovery of these vulnerabilities underscores the urgent need for robust authentication and session management mechanisms in critical infrastructure systems. As the adoption of EVs continues to rise, ensuring the security of charging networks is paramount to prevent potential disruptions and maintain public trust in these technologies.
Why This Matters Now
The rapid expansion of electric vehicle infrastructure makes the security of charging networks a pressing concern. Addressing these vulnerabilities promptly is crucial to prevent potential large-scale disruptions and unauthorized control over critical energy and transportation systems.
Attack Path Analysis
An attacker exploited publicly accessible charging station identifiers to impersonate legitimate stations, gaining unauthorized access to the CloudCharge platform. Utilizing the lack of authentication on WebSocket endpoints, the attacker issued commands as if they were legitimate chargers. By exploiting the absence of rate limiting on authentication requests, the attacker conducted brute-force attacks to escalate privileges. The attacker then moved laterally by hijacking active sessions through predictable session identifiers, displacing legitimate charging stations. Establishing command and control, the attacker manipulated data sent to the backend, suppressing or misrouting legitimate charger telemetry. Finally, the attacker exfiltrated sensitive data and caused a denial-of-service condition by overwhelming the backend with valid session requests.
Kill Chain Progression
Initial Compromise
Description
The attacker exploited publicly accessible charging station identifiers to impersonate legitimate stations and gain unauthorized access to the CloudCharge platform.
Related CVEs
CVE-2026-25114
CVSS 7.5The WebSocket API lacks restrictions on authentication requests, allowing potential denial-of-service and brute-force attacks.
Affected Products:
CloudCharge cloudcharge.se – all
Exploit Status:
no public exploit
MITRE ATT&CK® Techniques
Techniques identified for SEO/filtering; full STIX/TAXII enrichment to follow.
Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols
Modify Authentication Process
Valid Accounts
Exploitation of Remote Services
Steal Web Session Cookie
Potential Compliance Exposure
Mapping incident impact across multiple compliance frameworks.
PCI DSS 4.0 – Strong Authentication for Users
Control ID: 8.2.1
NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500 – Cybersecurity Policy
Control ID: 500.03
DORA – ICT Risk Management Framework
Control ID: Article 5
CISA ZTMM 2.0 – Authentication and Authorization
Control ID: Identity Pillar
NIS2 Directive – Cybersecurity Risk Management Measures
Control ID: Article 21
Sector Implications
Industry-specific impact of the vulnerabilities, including operational, regulatory, and cloud security risks.
Oil/Energy/Solar/Greentech
Critical EV charging infrastructure vulnerabilities enable station impersonation, session hijacking, and backend manipulation, compromising energy sector operational technology and customer data integrity.
Transportation
Electric vehicle charging network attacks through WebSocket exploitation can disrupt transportation infrastructure, deny charging services, and compromise fleet operations through unauthorized station control.
Utilities
Charging station authentication bypass and session manipulation vulnerabilities threaten utility-operated EV infrastructure, enabling denial-of-service attacks and unauthorized access to critical energy distribution systems.
Automotive
CloudCharge vulnerabilities impact automotive sector through compromised EV charging authentication, potentially disrupting vehicle-to-infrastructure communications and exposing fleet charging data to manipulation attacks.
Sources
- CloudCharge cloudcharge.sehttps://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-advisories/icsa-26-057-03Verified
- NVD Entry for CVE-2026-25114https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-25114Verified
Frequently Asked Questions
Cloud Native Security Fabric Mitigations and ControlsCNSF
Aviatrix Zero Trust CNSF is pertinent to this incident as it could have constrained the attacker's ability to exploit unsecured communication channels and move laterally within the CloudCharge platform, thereby reducing the potential blast radius of the attack.
Control: Cloud Native Security Fabric (CNSF)
Mitigation: Implementing Aviatrix CNSF could have limited unauthorized access by enforcing identity-based policies, thereby reducing the attacker's ability to impersonate legitimate stations.
Control: Zero Trust Segmentation
Mitigation: Aviatrix Zero Trust Segmentation could have restricted unauthorized command issuance by enforcing strict identity-based access controls, thereby limiting the attacker's ability to escalate privileges.
Control: East-West Traffic Security
Mitigation: Aviatrix East-West Traffic Security could have limited lateral movement by enforcing strict session controls and monitoring, thereby reducing the attacker's ability to hijack active sessions.
Control: Multicloud Visibility & Control
Mitigation: Aviatrix Multicloud Visibility & Control could have restricted unauthorized data manipulation by providing real-time monitoring and control over data flows, thereby limiting the attacker's ability to misroute telemetry.
Control: Egress Security & Policy Enforcement
Mitigation: Aviatrix Egress Security & Policy Enforcement could have limited data exfiltration by enforcing strict egress policies, thereby reducing the attacker's ability to transmit sensitive data out of the network.
Aviatrix Zero Trust CNSF could have reduced the impact of the denial-of-service attack by limiting the attacker's ability to overwhelm the backend, thereby maintaining the availability of charging station operations.
Impact at a Glance
Affected Business Functions
- Charging Station Operations
- Backend Data Management
Estimated downtime: 3 days
Estimated loss: $50,000
Potential manipulation of charging station data and unauthorized control of charging infrastructure.
Recommended Actions
Key Takeaways & Next Steps
- • Implement strong authentication mechanisms for all WebSocket endpoints to prevent unauthorized access.
- • Enforce rate limiting on authentication requests to mitigate brute-force attacks and potential denial-of-service conditions.
- • Utilize unique and unpredictable session identifiers with strict session validation to prevent session hijacking.
- • Deploy continuous monitoring and anomaly detection systems to identify and respond to unauthorized activities promptly.
- • Apply Zero Trust principles, including least privilege access and microsegmentation, to limit lateral movement and minimize attack surfaces.
