CVE-2026-28204: Charging Station Information Disclosure

CVE-2026-28204 Overview

CVE-2026-28204 is an information disclosure vulnerability affecting electric vehicle charging station infrastructure. The vulnerability allows charging station authentication identifiers to be publicly accessible via web-based mapping platforms, potentially enabling unauthorized access or impersonation attacks against charging infrastructure.

Critical Impact

Authentication credentials for EV charging stations are exposed through public mapping services, potentially allowing attackers to clone station identities, perform unauthorized billing, or disrupt charging services.

Affected Products

• CTEK Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
• Charging station management systems with web-based mapping integration
• Associated authentication backend services

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-03-20 - CVE CVE-2026-28204 published to NVD
• 2026-03-23 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-28204

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-522 (Insufficiently Protected Credentials), indicating that authentication credentials or identifiers are not adequately protected from unauthorized access. The root issue stems from charging station authentication identifiers being exposed through public-facing web mapping platforms, which should typically remain confidential to prevent abuse.

The network-accessible nature of this vulnerability means that any attacker with internet access can potentially harvest these exposed identifiers without requiring any special privileges or user interaction. While the immediate impact is limited to information disclosure affecting confidentiality and integrity, the downstream consequences could include identity spoofing of charging stations, billing fraud, or service disruption.

Root Cause

The vulnerability exists due to insufficiently protected credentials (CWE-522) where sensitive authentication identifiers for charging stations are inadvertently exposed through public web-based mapping services. This likely occurs through improper data handling practices where station identifiers intended for internal authentication are included in publicly accessible API responses or mapping platform integrations.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based, allowing remote exploitation without authentication. An attacker can:

1. Access public web-based mapping platforms that display charging station information
2. Extract authentication identifiers that should remain confidential
3. Potentially use these identifiers to impersonate legitimate charging stations
4. Exploit the exposed credentials for unauthorized access or billing manipulation

The vulnerability requires no user interaction and can be exploited with low complexity, making it accessible to a wide range of threat actors. For detailed technical information, refer to the CISA ICS Advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-28204

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual API requests to charging station mapping endpoints from unexpected geographic locations
• Bulk enumeration attempts against station identifier databases
• Authentication attempts using station identifiers from unauthorized sources
• Anomalous patterns in charging station identity verification logs

Detection Strategies

• Monitor web server access logs for systematic crawling of mapping platform endpoints that expose station data
• Implement anomaly detection for authentication requests that use identifiers harvested from public sources
• Deploy network traffic analysis to identify reconnaissance activity targeting charging infrastructure
• Audit mapping platform API responses to ensure authentication identifiers are not included in public-facing data

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging on all charging station authentication systems
• Configure alerts for authentication patterns indicative of credential harvesting
• Monitor third-party mapping platform integrations for data leakage
• Implement rate limiting on public-facing APIs that interact with charging station data

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-28204

Immediate Actions Required

• Audit all public-facing APIs and mapping platform integrations for exposed authentication identifiers
• Remove or obfuscate sensitive authentication data from publicly accessible mapping services
• Implement proper access controls to segregate public station location data from authentication credentials
• Contact CTEK support for vendor-specific guidance on securing charging station deployments

Patch Information

Consult the CTEK Support Page for the latest firmware updates and security patches addressing this vulnerability. Additionally, review the CISA ICS Advisory ICSA-26-078-06 for official mitigation guidance.

The GitHub CSAF File contains machine-readable vulnerability information for automated security tooling.

Workarounds

• Implement network segmentation to isolate charging station management systems from public-facing mapping services
• Deploy API gateways to filter sensitive authentication data from public responses
• Enable multi-factor authentication or additional verification steps that don't rely solely on the exposed identifiers
• Consider using dynamic or rotating authentication tokens rather than static identifiers

Organizations should prioritize implementing proper credential protection mechanisms and regularly audit all public-facing integrations to prevent similar information disclosure vulnerabilities.