CVE-2026-24445: Ev.energy WebSocket API DOS Vulnerability

CVE-2026-24445 Overview

CVE-2026-24445 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting the ev.energy electric vehicle charging platform. The WebSocket Application Programming Interface lacks restrictions on the number of authentication requests, creating a significant security gap. This absence of rate limiting may allow an attacker to conduct denial-of-service attacks by suppressing or mis-routing legitimate charger telemetry, or conduct brute-force attacks to gain unauthorized access.

Critical Impact

Attackers can exploit the missing rate limiting to overwhelm the WebSocket API with authentication requests, disrupting EV charging operations and potentially gaining unauthorized access to charging infrastructure through brute-force credential attacks.

Affected Products

• ev.energy ev.energy (all versions)
• ev.energy WebSocket API authentication endpoints
• ev.energy EV charger telemetry systems

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-02-27 - CVE-2026-24445 published to NVD
• 2026-03-05 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-24445

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability stems from CWE-307: Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts. The ev.energy platform's WebSocket API does not implement adequate controls to limit the rate or volume of authentication requests that can be submitted within a given timeframe. This architectural weakness creates two distinct attack surfaces: denial-of-service and brute-force authentication bypass.

In the context of EV charging infrastructure, the WebSocket API serves as a critical communication channel between charging stations and the backend management system. Telemetry data including charging status, energy consumption, and session information flows through this interface. Without rate limiting, an attacker can flood the API with authentication requests, consuming server resources and potentially blocking legitimate charger communications.

The network-accessible nature of this vulnerability means remote attackers can exploit it without requiring prior authentication or user interaction. The attack complexity is low, making exploitation straightforward once an attacker identifies the vulnerable endpoint.

Root Cause

The root cause is the absence of authentication rate limiting mechanisms in the WebSocket API implementation. The application fails to track, count, or restrict authentication attempts from individual sources or across the system. This omission violates security best practices for authentication systems, which should implement exponential backoff, account lockout, or request throttling to prevent abuse.

Attack Vector

The attack leverages network access to the WebSocket API endpoint. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability through two primary methods:

Denial-of-Service Attack: By sending a high volume of authentication requests, an attacker can exhaust server resources, causing legitimate charger communications to be suppressed or mis-routed. This could result in charging sessions being interrupted or charger status becoming unavailable.

Brute-Force Attack: Without rate limiting, an attacker can systematically attempt credentials at high speed. This increases the feasibility of password guessing attacks, potentially leading to unauthorized access to charging accounts, administrative functions, or charger control systems.

The vulnerability is particularly concerning in the context of Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and critical infrastructure, as EV charging networks are becoming increasingly integrated with power grid operations.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-24445

Indicators of Compromise

• Abnormally high volumes of WebSocket authentication requests from single IP addresses or small IP ranges
• Spike in failed authentication attempts targeting the ev.energy API endpoints
• Unusual patterns of connection establishment and termination to WebSocket services
• Charger telemetry gaps or missing status updates during suspected attack windows

Detection Strategies

• Implement network traffic analysis to identify sudden increases in WebSocket connection attempts
• Monitor authentication logs for rapid successive failed login attempts exceeding normal user behavior thresholds
• Deploy intrusion detection rules to flag high-frequency authentication request patterns
• Establish baseline metrics for normal API authentication traffic to enable anomaly detection

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure alerting for authentication failure rates exceeding established thresholds
• Monitor WebSocket connection counts and durations for abnormal patterns
• Track API response times and error rates as indicators of resource exhaustion
• Implement logging of all authentication attempts with source IP, timestamp, and result for forensic analysis

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-24445

Immediate Actions Required

• Review the CISA ICS Advisory for official mitigation guidance
• Implement network-level rate limiting for WebSocket API endpoints as an interim measure
• Consider deploying a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rate limiting capabilities in front of the API
• Restrict API access to known IP ranges where operationally feasible
• Enable enhanced logging on authentication endpoints to support incident detection

Patch Information

Consult the CISA ICS Advisory ICSA-26-057-07 for the latest patch information and vendor recommendations. Additional technical details are available in the GitHub CSAF Document. Contact ev.energy directly through their official website for remediation guidance and software updates.

Workarounds

• Deploy external rate limiting using reverse proxy or API gateway solutions such as NGINX, HAProxy, or cloud-based WAF services
• Implement IP-based access control lists to restrict API access to trusted networks
• Enable account lockout policies if supported by the current application version
• Consider implementing CAPTCHA or proof-of-work challenges for authentication requests as an additional layer of protection
• Segment the EV charging management network from general corporate infrastructure to limit attack surface