CVE-2025-54923 is a high-severity vulnerability classified under CWE-502, which pertains to the deserialization of untrusted data. This vulnerability affects Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure™ Power Monitoring Expert (PME) product, specifically versions 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2024 R2. The core issue arises when authenticated users send crafted data to a network-exposed service within PME that performs unsafe deserialization. Deserialization is the process of converting data from a format suitable for storage or transmission back into an object or data structure. When this process is unsafe, it can allow attackers to inject malicious payloads that execute arbitrary code on the target system. In this case, the vulnerability enables remote code execution (RCE) without requiring user interaction, and with low attack complexity. The CVSS 4.0 vector indicates network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no user interaction (UI:N), and privileges required are low (PR:L), meaning an attacker only needs limited authenticated access to exploit the flaw. The impact metrics are high for confidentiality, integrity, and availability, meaning exploitation could lead to full system compromise, data breaches, and service disruption. Although no known exploits are currently observed in the wild, the vulnerability's characteristics make it a significant risk, especially given PME's role in power monitoring and management. The absence of patches at the time of publication further elevates the urgency for mitigation. This vulnerability could be leveraged by attackers to gain control over critical infrastructure monitoring systems, potentially leading to operational disruptions or sabotage.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-54923 is substantial, particularly for those in the energy sector, utilities, and industrial environments relying on Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure PME for power monitoring and management. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code remotely, leading to unauthorized access, manipulation, or disruption of power monitoring data and systems. This could result in incorrect power usage reporting, failure to detect outages or faults, and potentially cascading failures in power distribution networks. The compromise of system integrity and availability could affect operational continuity, safety, and compliance with regulatory requirements such as the EU NIS Directive and GDPR if sensitive data is exposed. Given the critical nature of power infrastructure, exploitation could also have broader societal and economic consequences, including impacts on manufacturing, healthcare, and public services. The requirement for low-level authentication means insider threats or compromised credentials could be leveraged, increasing the risk profile. The lack of known exploits currently provides a window for proactive defense but also means organizations must act swiftly to prevent future exploitation.

1. Immediate implementation of strict access controls and network segmentation to limit access to PME services only to trusted and authenticated personnel and systems. 2. Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all users with access to PME to reduce the risk of credential compromise. 3. Monitor network traffic and logs for unusual or suspicious deserialization activity or malformed data packets targeting PME services. 4. Apply principle of least privilege to user accounts, ensuring that users have only the necessary permissions to perform their roles, minimizing the impact of compromised accounts. 5. Engage with Schneider Electric for timely updates or patches addressing this vulnerability; if patches are not yet available, consider temporary workarounds such as disabling or restricting the vulnerable service if feasible. 6. Conduct regular security assessments and penetration testing focused on deserialization vulnerabilities and authentication mechanisms within PME deployments. 7. Implement application-layer firewalls or intrusion prevention systems (IPS) capable of detecting and blocking malicious deserialization payloads. 8. Educate and train system administrators and users about the risks of deserialization vulnerabilities and the importance of credential security. 9. Prepare incident response plans specific to power monitoring infrastructure to quickly contain and remediate any exploitation attempts.