HighPublic exploitVulnerability

CVE-2025-41451

Authenticated Command Injection in Danfoss AK-SM 8xxA Alarm-to-Mail Configuration

Published Aug 22, 2025 · Updated 8 days ago

Trending this weekNot trendingOutside this week’s top 100

Mention activity · 30 days

29 mentions · peak 12 in a dayToday

CVSS8.7High · v4

EPSS4.5%91st percentile

CISA KEVNoNot listed

In the wildNonePublic exploit, no exploitation reported

IdentifiersCVE-2025-41451CWE-77 · Improper Neutralization of Special…

CVE-2025-41451 is an authenticated command-injection vulnerability affecting Danfoss AK-SM 8xxA Series refrigeration controllers running firmware earlier than 4.3.1. The alarm-to-mail functionality incorporates configuration values, including the SMTP authentication password, into an operating-system shell command without adequate sanitization. An authenticated attacker able to modify these settings can inject shell directives and potentially execute arbitrary commands remotely. The vulnerability can be chained with CVE-2025-41450 on devices also affected by that authentication bypass.

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Analyst brief

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means and what to do now: patch path, interim mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation permits arbitrary command execution on the affected controller, potentially compromising its software and refrigeration-management functions. Researchers demonstrated that chaining CVE-2025-41450 with CVE-2025-41451 could disable cooling while falsifying temperature readings, potentially concealing cold-chain failures and causing spoilage and operational losses. The execution privilege level is not specified. Exploitation of this CVE in the October 2026 supermarket incidents has not been confirmed.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

The vendor advisory provides no vulnerability-specific workaround. Compensating controls include removing direct internet exposure, restricting management access to trusted networks through a secured remote-access gateway or VPN, and segmenting refrigeration control networks. Use individually assigned accounts, least privilege, and multifactor authentication at the remote-access boundary. Monitor changes to email-alert settings and refrigeration parameters, and use independent temperature monitoring to detect concealed process disruption. These controls do not replace the firmware update.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade affected Danfoss AK-SM 8xxA Series controllers to firmware R4.3.1 or a later vendor-supported release. Verify the appropriate firmware and upgrade procedure for the specific controller model. R4.3.1 addresses CVE-2025-41451; updating only to R4.2 does not remediate this command-injection vulnerability.

Public exploits

Exploits

1 exploit validated by Mallory's analysis. Hidden: 1 rejected by Mallory's analysis as not a working exploit.

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fromagegateStandalone Python-standard-library research and detection toolkit with 15 files: three exploit scripts, one vulnerable-behavior emulator, one detection-test script, four experimental Sigma YAML rules, one Suricata ruleset containing nine rules, two capture/proof artifacts, two Markdown documents, and .gitignore. The five Python scripts are counted as code files; the detection rules are declarative artifacts, not an exploit-framework dependency. CVE-2025-41450 is modeled through an MD5-based, six-digit date code and stand-in codeofday/support fields that yield an SMSession administrator cookie. CVE-2025-41451 submits a configurable shell payload in SMTP password item 0x1be1; its default writes id output to a proof file. CVE-2025-41452 uploads a fixed headers.conf marker and location, verifies the injected response header, then checks a simulated 502-to-503 crash sequence. Only the command-injection script supports legitimate credentials despite broader wording in the README. The emulator intentionally permits local command execution, while nginx behavior is simulated by parsing directives rather than running nginx; its crash window is eight seconds. The provided nine-request capture documents an emulator chain, and the identity proof originates from a macOS host. Neither establishes exploitation of real Danfoss firmware. The repository explicitly acknowledges that the true date-code algorithm and bypass names are missing and that request schemas need device validation. These are genuine functional emulator PoCs, not demonstrated turnkey hardware exploits. Detection coverage includes authentication anomalies, shell-injection request patterns, headers.conf uploads, web-service child processes, nginx reloads, HTTP 503 bursts, and StoreView exposure. The test script is an approximate request matcher, not a Suricata engine test; response-side rules are not exercised, and Sigma rules are not validated by it. Placeholder SMTP addresses are configuration artifacts, not demonstrated attacker infrastructure. Reference URLs are documentation links, not runtime endpoints. WRITEUP.md supplies incident context but explicitly treats attribution to these CVEs as inference; its incident claims were not independently verified. The writeup and emulator source are partially truncated in the supplied material. Repository URL, git reference, archive path, and archive size were not supplied; empty strings, null, and size 0 represent unavailable metadata.msuiche · Disclosed Oct 13, 2026 · python · network · webOperational

External references

References

MITRE CVEcve.org · CVE-2025-41451 NVDnvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-41451 MITRE CWE · CWE-77Improper Neutralization of Special Elements…github.comgithub.com/msuiche/fromagegate danfoss.comdanfoss.com/en/service-and-support/downloads/dcs/adap-kool-software/ak-sm-800a

Activity feed

Recent activity

38 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.

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hackreadNews · Oct 26, 202612,976 Refrigeration Controls Found Exposed Online in 99 CountriesAn authenticated command-injection vulnerability affecting Danfoss AK-SM 8xxA systems running versions before 4.3.1 that could allow remote code execution. The article does not establish that this vulnerability was used in the reported refrigeration attacks.Read more ↗dark readingNews · Oct 22, 2026Les supermarchés de l'UE paient d'un firmware de réfrigérateur non mis à jourOne of three vulnerabilities disclosed by Claroty Team82 in Danfoss AK-SM 800A refrigeration controllers. The article attributes remote code execution or denial-of-service capabilities to the group without identifying this CVE’s specific impact. Its use in the reported refrigeration attacks remains unconfirmed. Firmware updates are available; recommended defenses include removing direct Internet exposure and restricting remote access.Read more ↗forescoutNews · Oct 22, 2026Cold Chain, Open Control: Exposed Refrigeration Systems Reveal Global Risk - ForescoutA known vulnerability affecting Danfoss AK-SM 800A firmware before version 4.3.1. Researchers identified 3,762 StoreView service observations, approximately 80% of the total, running firmware below that threshold. Exploitation of this specific vulnerability in the reported incidents remains unconfirmed.Read more ↗fortinet threat signalNews · Oct 21, 2026Threat Signal Report | FortiGuard LabsAn OS command injection vulnerability affecting Danfoss AK-SM 8xxA refrigeration controllers that can enable remote code execution. Danfoss identifies firmware R4.3.1 as the fix. Exploitation of this specific vulnerability in the reported attacks is not established.Read more ↗

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Exposure mappingQuery your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidenceEvery report linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malwareMalware families linked to this CVE, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signaturesYARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mappingCross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity11Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.