CVE-2026-22537: Charger System Information Disclosure Flaw

CVE-2026-22537 Overview

CVE-2026-22537 is a sensitive data exposure vulnerability affecting electric vehicle (EV) charger management systems. The vulnerability stems from insufficient system hardening, allowing users with management and maintenance access to consult files containing clear-text credentials and other sensitive information that could be valuable to an attacker.

Critical Impact

Local attackers with low-privileged access can retrieve clear-text credentials, potentially enabling unauthorized access to charger systems, connected networks, and backend infrastructure.

Affected Products

• EV Charger Management Systems (specific versions not disclosed)
• Thales Group associated charging infrastructure components

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-01-07 - CVE-2026-22537 published to NVD
• 2026-01-08 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-22537

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability represents a classic example of CWE-497 (Exposure of Sensitive System Information to an Unauthorized Control Sphere). The core issue is that the EV charger system stores sensitive credentials and configuration data in clear-text files that are accessible to users with management or maintenance roles.

The attack requires local access and low-level privileges, meaning an attacker would need either physical access to the charger system or remote access through a management interface. Once authenticated as a maintenance user, the attacker can navigate the filesystem to locate and read sensitive configuration files.

The impact is confined to confidentiality—the attacker gains read access to sensitive data but cannot modify system integrity or cause availability issues through this vulnerability alone. However, the exposed credentials could serve as a stepping stone for more severe attacks, including unauthorized administrative access, lateral movement to connected systems, or compromise of backend charging network infrastructure.

Root Cause

The root cause is inadequate system hardening practices during the design and deployment of the charger management system. Specifically:

• Credentials and sensitive configuration data are stored in plain text rather than being encrypted or hashed
• File system permissions are not sufficiently restrictive to prevent maintenance users from accessing sensitive files
• The principle of least privilege is not properly implemented, allowing broader access than necessary for management tasks

Attack Vector

The attack vector is local, requiring the attacker to have authenticated access to the charger system with at least maintenance-level privileges. The exploitation process involves:

1. Obtaining legitimate or compromised maintenance user credentials
2. Accessing the charger system locally or through an authorized remote management interface
3. Navigating to configuration directories containing sensitive files
4. Reading clear-text credentials from configuration or log files
5. Using harvested credentials to escalate privileges or access connected systems

The vulnerability has low attack complexity with no user interaction required beyond the initial authentication. The attacker can methodically search for and extract credentials without triggering obvious security alerts, as file access by maintenance users may be considered normal system activity.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-22537

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual file access patterns to configuration directories by maintenance user accounts
• Unexpected queries or reads of files commonly containing credentials (e.g., .conf, .ini, .cfg, .env files)
• Maintenance account activity outside of scheduled maintenance windows
• Evidence of credential enumeration or bulk file access operations

Detection Strategies

• Implement file integrity monitoring (FIM) on sensitive configuration directories to detect unauthorized access
• Enable detailed audit logging for all file system operations performed by maintenance accounts
• Deploy user behavior analytics (UBA) to identify anomalous access patterns that deviate from normal maintenance activities
• Monitor for unusual authentication attempts using credentials that may have been harvested from charger systems

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure alerts for access to known sensitive configuration file paths
• Establish baseline behavior profiles for maintenance user accounts and alert on deviations
• Implement centralized log collection from charger systems to correlate access events across the fleet
• Monitor network traffic for unauthorized connections originating from charger systems that may indicate credential abuse

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-22537

Immediate Actions Required

• Audit all configuration files on charger systems to identify clear-text credentials
• Implement encryption for sensitive data at rest, including credentials stored in configuration files
• Review and restrict file system permissions to enforce least privilege access for maintenance users
• Rotate all credentials that may have been exposed in clear-text configuration files
• Segment charger systems from critical network infrastructure to limit lateral movement potential

Patch Information

Consult Thales Group Security Resources for the latest security advisories and patches related to this vulnerability. Organizations should work with their equipment vendors to obtain firmware or software updates that address the system hardening deficiencies.

Workarounds

• Implement additional access controls and multi-factor authentication for maintenance accounts
• Deploy file access monitoring to detect and alert on unauthorized credential file access
• Use a secrets management solution to store credentials securely rather than in local configuration files
• Restrict physical and network access to charger management interfaces to authorized personnel only
• Conduct regular security audits of charger systems to identify and remediate hardening gaps

Organizations should treat all credentials stored on affected systems as potentially compromised and implement a credential rotation policy as part of the mitigation process.