CVE-2025-24004VulnerabilityPublished 8 Jul 2025

CVE-2025-24004: Phoenix Contact CHARX SEC-3150 · Classic Buffer Overflow

Affects Phoenix Contact CHARX SEC-3150Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.2 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.2Medium

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

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 8% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L

Attack Vector: Physical
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: High
Availability: Low

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

Attack Vector: Physical: The attack requires the attacker to physically touch or manipulate the vulnerable component. Physical interaction may be brief or persistent.
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
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 impacted component 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 impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 8 Jul 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: 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 2026-10-25.

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.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC 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
Phoenix Contact CHARX SEC-3150	Affected =0.0.0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should implement strict physical security controls around devices equipped with the CHARX SEC-3150, including restricted access to USB-C ports and monitoring of physical device interfaces. Deploy tamper-evident seals or enclosures to detect unauthorized access attempts. Network segmentation should be employed to isolate vulnerable devices from critical network segments to limit the impact of any device disruption. Organizations should also establish rigorous device monitoring and alerting to detect abnormal device behavior or unexpected restarts indicative of exploitation attempts. Until a vendor patch is available, consider disabling or physically blocking unused USB-C ports if feasible. Additionally, maintain up-to-date asset inventories to identify all affected devices and prioritize their protection. Engage with Phoenix Contact for timely updates or patches and plan for rapid deployment once available. Conduct regular security training for personnel to recognize and report suspicious physical access attempts. Finally, implement robust incident response procedures to quickly recover from any denial-of-service events caused by this vulnerability.

Description

A physical attacker with access to the device display via USB-C can send a message to the device which triggers an unsecure copy to a buffer resulting in loss of integrity and a temporary denial-of-service for the stations until they got restarted by the watchdog.

Impact

For European organizations, particularly those in industrial automation, manufacturing, and critical infrastructure sectors relying on Phoenix Contact CHARX SEC-3150 devices, this vulnerability poses a risk of operational disruption. The temporary denial-of-service caused by the buffer overflow can halt station operations, potentially leading to production downtime, safety incidents, or delays in critical processes. The loss of integrity could also affect the reliability of system data or control commands, which is critical in industrial control systems (ICS). Although the attack requires physical access, environments with less stringent physical security or remote sites may be vulnerable to insider threats or unauthorized personnel accessing the USB-C interface. The impact on availability and integrity, even if temporary, can have cascading effects on supply chains and service delivery, especially in sectors like energy, transportation, and manufacturing prevalent in Europe. Given the medium severity and the lack of remote exploitation capability, the threat is moderate but should not be underestimated in environments where physical security is limited or where device uptime is critical.

CWE-120Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input ('Classic Buffer Overflow') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #11
The product copies an input buffer to an output buffer without verifying that the size of the input buffer is less than the size of the output buffer.
Requirements · Language Selection
Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Operation · Build and Compilation · Environment Hardening
Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index…
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Docker Security (opens in a new tab)
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.4.1 (opens in a new tab)
V14.1.2 (opens in a new tab)
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Buffer Overflow via Environment Variables (opens in a new tab)
Overflow Buffers (opens in a new tab)
Client-side Injection-induced Buffer Overflow (opens in a new tab)
Filter Failure through Buffer Overflow (opens in a new tab)
MIME Conversion (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

certvde.com/de/advisories/VDE-2025-014 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 8 Jul 2025, 07:25 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-120

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats