Summary
Multiple vulnerabilities have been identified in the firmware of CHARX SEC-3xxx EV charging controllers, including the CHARX SEC-3000, SEC-3050, SEC-3100, and SEC-3150 models. The flaws could allow attackers to compromise the devices remotely, resulting in a complete loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Details
Impact
The vulnerabilities can lead to a total loss of confidentiality, integrity and availability of the devices.
Mitigation
Affected charging controllers are designed and developed for the use in closed industrial networks. Phoenix Contact therefore strongly recommends using the devices exclusively in closed networks and protected by a suitable firewall.
Remediation
Phoenix Contact recommends updating affected devices to firmware version 1.9.1, which addresses these vulnerabilities. The updated firmware will be made available as soon as possible, but no later than August 12, 2026. Please check the download section of the respective product webpage for the availability of the fix.
Vulnerabilities 20
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Critical 9.8
Missing authentication for MQTT Broker
Due to missing authentication, an unauthenticated remote attacker may access the MQTT broker, which is only protected from external access by a firewall. This may lead to the device being fully compromised.
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Critical 9.8
OCPP reconfiguration vulnerability
Due to missing authentication the CHARX OCPP Agent service allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to reconfigure the backend connection. This can lead to Denial-of-Service and confidential data being disclosed to the attacker.
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Critical 9.8
ControllerAgent does not perform validation of firmware
The firmware update process for the basemodule of the charging controller only validates the CRC32 checksum without cryptographic signature verification. This allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to install a modified firmware, resulting in full system c…
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Critical 9.8
Firewall bypass during shutdown
Due to a flaw in the execution order of scripts during shutdown, the firewall is terminated prematurely during system shutdown. This creates a temporary window in which internal services may become externally accessible, potentially allowing an unauthenticate…
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Critical 9.8
Command Injection in SCM (idledisconnect parameter)
Due to improper neutralization of special elements, an unauthenticated remote attacker is able to inject a command into the system configuration which is subsequently executed as root.
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Critical 9.4
JupiCore charging point reconfiguration without auth
The CHARX JupiCore service allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to reconfigure charging points. This can lead to disclosure of charging point UIDs, Denial-of-Service and files tampering.
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Critical 9.1
Creation of a new configuration by posting a malicious ID to MQTT
An unauthenticated remote attacker can post a malicious ID to the MQTT Broker results in the creation of a new configuration entry in the system configuration. This may lead to integrity and availability loss.
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Critical 9.1
Missing input validation / stripping of CRLF characters in SystemConfigManager
An unauthenticated remote attacker can inject malicious input into the ModbusServer application because it does not validate the input it fetches from MQTT. This may lead to integrity and availability loss.
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High 8.6
Fallback to second RAUC slot with default credentials
An unauthenticated remote attacker can enforce the system to fall back to a firmware partition with an insecure configuration including default credentials. This could allow the attacker to gain SSH access to the system as an unprivileged user "user-app". Cha…
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High 8.6
OS Command Injection in OCPP Agent via charge_box_id
This vulnerability allows an unauthenticated remote attacker with control over the OCPP backend via firewall-bypass to perform an OS command injection, resulting in the execution of arbitrary commands as the limited user charx-oa. Charging could be interrupte…
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High 7.8
Local Privilege Escalation vulnerability in /etc/init.d/user-applications via user-application start script
A local privilege escalation vulnerability in the init-script for user-applications allows a low-privileged local user to execute arbitrary commands as root, resulting in full system compromise.
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High 7.8
Local Privilege Escalation via Network scripts
A privilege escalation vulnerability in a script used for network configuration allows a low-privileged local user to execute arbitrary commands as root, resulting in full system compromise.
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High 7.8
udhcpc Privilege Escalation
A privilege escalation vulnerability in udhcpc allows a local user "charx-web" to execute arbitrary commands as root, resulting in full system compromise.
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High 7.8
Local Privilege Escalation via pppd password injection
A privilege escalation vulnerability in the system configuration allows a low-privileged local user to execute arbitrary commands as root, resulting in full system compromise.
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High 7.8
Local Privilege Escalation vulnerability in /etc/init.d/user-applications via customer website file
A privilege escalation vulnerability in the init-script for user-applications allows a low-privileged local user to execute arbitrary commands as root, resulting in full system compromise.
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High 7.5
Exposed Reboot via Modbus
A reboot of the charging controller can be triggered via Modbus TCP without authentication. Therefore, when the Modbus functionality is enabled by opening the port that CharxModbusServer is listening, an unauthenticated attacker can perform a Denial-of-Servic…
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High 7.1
File Upload vulnerability
A low-privileged remote attacker with "operator" access can upload arbitrary files via the REST endpoint intended for firmware updates, resulting in persistent storage of attacker-controlled files and potentially exhausting resources, which might lead to Deni…
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Medium 6.6
Cleartext password in logs
The credentials for the local user "user-app" may be exposed in log files, potentially enabling a low-privileged local attacker with access to the logs to authenticate via SSH as the limited user "user-app". Charging could be interrupted.
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Medium 5.3
OCPP Firmware download is not properly locked
An unauthenticated remote attacker can trigger a firmware update download via the OCPP backend by supplying an invalid firmware file. This will cause the file to remain accessible for a short period before it is deleted due to improper locking during the clea…
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Medium 5.3
JupiCore does not perform validation of firmware
An unauthenticated remote attacker can inject malicious firmware into the internal charging module because the JupiCore service transmits firmware updates without performing integrity or verification check. Successful exploitation may compromise the integrity…
Revision history
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#1.0.0
Initial revision.
References
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pcsa-2026-00006
https://phoenixcontact.com/psirt
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Phoenix Contact advisory overview at CERT@VDE
https://certvde.com/de/advisories/vendor/phoenixcontact/
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VDE-2026-008: Phoenix Contact: Multiple vulnerabilities in the firmware of CHARX SEC3xxx charging controllers - HTML
https://certvde.com/en/advisories/VDE-2026-008
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Phoenix Contact application note
https://dam-mdc.phoenixcontact.com/asset/156443151564/0a870ae433c19148b80bd760f3a1c1f2/107913_en_03.pdf