Description

OMICRON StationGuard before version 4.10 contains a cryptographic timing side-channel vulnerability in the backend authentication mechanism that may allow an unauthenticated attacker to forge valid authentication credentials, bypass authentication and authorization, and impersonate legitimate clients. An attacker can gain full access to the system configuration, allowing modification, reset, or unauthorized alteration of system parameters.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "8.7",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-06T14:16:21.840Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-06T14:16:21.840Z",
  "executiveSummary": "An authentication bypass vulnerability involving a cryptographic timing side-channel exists in the backend authentication mechanism of OMICRON StationGuard before version 4.10. This security flaw enables unauthenticated remote attackers to systematically forge valid authentication credentials, completely circumvent authentication and authorization layers, and successfully impersonate legitimate clients within the targeted operational environment. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability yields full administrative access to the system configuration, granting malicious actors the capability to arbitrarily modify, reset, or execute unauthorized alterations of critical system parameters. The risk implications are severe, as unauthorized manipulation of industrial security and monitoring infrastructure can lead to operational disruption, loss of visibility, or complete compromise of the underlying process control systems. The attack requires no prior authentication or specialized privileges, lowering the threshold for exploitation against exposed network services. Mitigation relies strictly on upgrading the affected product to the remediated version specified by the vendor.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides within the backend authentication mechanism of OMICRON StationGuard prior to version 4.10, specifically stemming from insecure cryptographic comparison operations that introduce measurable execution time variances. This cryptographic timing side-channel allows an unauthenticated adversary to measure response latencies during the authentication process, systematically deducing valid credentials or authentication tokens character by character or through statistical analysis of processing delays. Because the backend component fails to execute constant-time comparisons for sensitive authentication data, it inadvertently leaks confidential cryptographic information across the network interface. The exploitation method involves repeatedly querying the vulnerable authentication endpoint with crafted inputs while observing precise round-trip response times to reconstruct valid credentials. Once the attacker successfully derives or forges the authentication tokens, the request flow bypasses all standard authorization checks, allowing the attacker to establish an active session while impersonating legitimate, authorized clients. The vulnerable component is the backend authentication module exposed via network services. Exploitation requires zero prior authentication and no special user privileges, operating entirely over the network where the service is accessible. The post-exploitation impact is critical and absolute: an attacker gains full administrative access to the system configuration, permitting malicious actors to alter, reset, or maliciously reconfigure critical system parameters, thereby subverting the integrity and availability of the deployed StationGuard node."
}