VulnerabilityPublished 10 Mar 2026

CVE-2025-13901: Schneider Electric Modicon M241/M251 · Improper Resource Shutdown or Release

Affects Schneider Electric Modicon M241/M251Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.9 Medium · patch available : update Schneider Electric Modicon M241/M251 when convenient.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 19:04 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

6.9Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 41% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None
Vulnerable system integrity: None
Vulnerable system availability: Low
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable system is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed below, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed “remotely exploitable” and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files of the vulnerable system to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the Vulnerable System are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 10 Mar 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Schneider ElectricModicon M241/M251	Affected =Versions prior to 5.4.13.12	Fixed in–
Schneider ElectricModicon M262	Affected =Versions prior to 5.4.10.12	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2025-13901, organizations should immediately upgrade affected Modicon M241 and M251 PLCs to firmware version 5.4.13.12 or later where the vulnerability is patched. In addition to patching, implement strict network segmentation to isolate industrial control systems from general IT networks and the internet, reducing exposure to unauthenticated remote attacks. Deploy network monitoring and anomaly detection tools focused on the Machine Expert protocol to identify unusual communication channel usage indicative of exploitation attempts. Limit access to PLC communication ports using firewalls and access control lists (ACLs) to restrict traffic to trusted sources only. Regularly audit and review PLC configurations and network architecture to ensure adherence to security best practices. Establish incident response procedures specific to industrial control system disruptions to minimize downtime if exploitation occurs. Finally, maintain up-to-date asset inventories to quickly identify and remediate vulnerable devices.

Description

CWE-404 Improper Resource Shutdown or Release vulnerability exists that could cause partial Denial of Service on Machine Expert protocol when an unauthenticated attacker sends malicious payload to occupy active communication channels.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2025-13901 is a partial denial of service on Schneider Electric Modicon M241/M251 PLCs, which are critical components in industrial automation and control systems. Disruption of communication channels can lead to halted or degraded control processes, affecting manufacturing lines, critical infrastructure, and industrial operations. This can result in operational downtime, financial losses, and potential safety hazards in environments relying on continuous and reliable PLC operation. Since the vulnerability requires no authentication and can be exploited remotely, attackers could disrupt operations without insider access. While it does not directly compromise data confidentiality or integrity, the availability impact can cascade into broader operational and safety risks. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate threat but does not eliminate the risk, especially as threat actors may develop exploits targeting industrial control systems. Organizations with large deployments of Schneider Electric PLCs are particularly vulnerable to targeted attacks aiming to disrupt industrial processes.

CWE-404Improper Resource Shutdown or Release (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: Medium
The product does not release or incorrectly releases a resource before it is made available for re-use.
Requirements · Language Selection
Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Implementation
It is good practice to be responsible for freeing all resources you allocate and to be consistent with how and where you free memory in a function. If you allocate memory that you intend to free upon completion of the function, you must be sure to free the memory at all exit points for that function including error…
Implementation
Memory should be allocated/freed using matching functions such as malloc/free, new/delete, and new[]/delete[].
Attack patterns
TCP Fragmentation (opens in a new tab)
UDP Fragmentation (opens in a new tab)
ICMP Fragmentation (opens in a new tab)
BlueSmacking (opens in a new tab)
Flooding (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

download.schneider-electric.com/files?p_Doc_Ref=SEVD-2026-069-01&p_enDocType=Security+and+Safety+Notice&p_File_Name=SEVD-2026-069-01.pdf (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 10 Mar 2026, 18:08 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-404

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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