CVE-2024-28022 is a medium-severity vulnerability identified in Hitachi Energy's FOXMAN-UN product, specifically affecting versions R15A, R15B, R16A, and R16B. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-307, which relates to improper restriction of excessive authentication attempts. The flaw exists in the UNEM server / APIGateway component, where an attacker can perform an unlimited number of authentication attempts without being blocked or throttled. This lack of rate limiting or lockout mechanisms allows brute force or credential stuffing attacks to succeed more easily. By exploiting this vulnerability, a malicious actor can eventually gain unauthorized access to the targeted account and subsequently access other components within the same security realm, potentially escalating their privileges or moving laterally within the network. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 6.5, indicating a medium severity level. The vector indicates that the attack can be performed remotely over the network (AV:N), requires high attack complexity (AC:H), no privileges (PR:N), and no user interaction (UI:N). The scope is changed (S:C), and the impact is low to moderate on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:L/I:L/A:L). No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet. However, the vulnerability poses a significant risk due to the potential for unauthorized access and lateral movement within critical infrastructure environments where FOXMAN-UN is deployed.

For European organizations, particularly those in critical infrastructure sectors such as energy, utilities, and industrial control systems, this vulnerability presents a tangible risk. FOXMAN-UN is a product by Hitachi Energy, a company with a strong presence in Europe, especially in countries with advanced energy grids and industrial automation. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to operational technology (OT) environments, potentially disrupting energy distribution or causing data breaches. The ability to perform unlimited authentication attempts increases the likelihood of successful brute force attacks, which could compromise sensitive control systems. This could result in operational downtime, safety hazards, and regulatory non-compliance under frameworks like NIS2 and GDPR if personal or operational data is exposed. The medium severity rating suggests that while the vulnerability is not trivially exploitable, the consequences of a successful attack could be significant, especially given the critical nature of the affected systems.

Organizations using FOXMAN-UN should implement compensating controls immediately while awaiting official patches. These include deploying network-level rate limiting or intrusion prevention systems (IPS) to detect and block excessive authentication attempts targeting the UNEM server and APIGateway. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) should be enforced on all accounts to reduce the risk of credential compromise. Monitoring and alerting on authentication anomalies and failed login attempts should be enhanced to detect brute force activity early. Network segmentation should be applied to isolate FOXMAN-UN components from less trusted networks, limiting lateral movement opportunities. Additionally, organizations should engage with Hitachi Energy support channels to obtain patches or updates as soon as they become available and apply them promptly. Regular security assessments and penetration testing focusing on authentication mechanisms in FOXMAN-UN deployments are recommended to identify and remediate related weaknesses.