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libIEC61850 EUVDEUVD-2026-102909

| CVE-2026-57446 MEDIUM
Double Free (CWE-415)
2026-10-16 GitHub_M
5.3
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: GitHub_M
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Reach MMS server on network
  2. Delivery
    Send successful ObtainFile request
  3. Exploit
    Send reusing ObtainFile that fails destination
  4. Execution
    Trigger double-free on stale handle
  5. Impact
    Crash server (denial of service)

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Double free prevention
Exploitation Conditions

Exploitable only on servers where the MMS file service is enabled AND the ObtainFile operation is permitted - if the file service is disabled (a common hardened default), the vulnerable code path is unreachable. The attacker must send a specific two-step sequence: a first ObtainFile that succeeds, followed by a second ObtainFile that reuses the freed task and causes destination-file creation to fail, which invokes the MMS_FILE_UPLOAD_STATE_SEND_OBTAIN_FILE_ERROR_DESTINATION cleanup that closes the stale handle again. Per CVSS PR:N no authentication is required, but reachability is typically limited to the substation/automation network segment rather than the open internet; impact is limited to availability (server crash) with no data exposure.

Impact

This is a genuine but moderate-severity denial-of-service issue, not a high-priority emergency. The CVSS vector (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L, base 5.3 MEDIUM) is internally consistent with the description: a remote, unauthenticated (PR:N), low-complexity request sequence causes a double-free (CWE-415) that crashes the server, with availability-only impact (A:L) and no confidentiality or integrity effect. The real-world risk is bounded by two factors the raw score understates: exploitation is only possible when the MMS file service AND the ObtainFile operation are explicitly enabled (not universal defaults), and the product is niche OT/ICS middleware rather than mass-deployed software. No EPSS score, SSVC decision, KEV listing, or public POC was provided in the input; exploitation status is therefore 'no public exploit identified at time of analysis.' However, the fixing commit (d86b4a9) is public and clearly shows the vulnerable success-then-failure double-close path, which lowers the barrier to writing a working exploit even though none is confirmed public. Conflicting-signal note: the CVSS claims PR:N (unauthenticated), but MMS associations and the file service are typically reachable only inside segmented substation networks, so the practical attack surface is narrower than AV:N implies - verify exposure against your network architecture.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker with network reach to an MMS server that has the file service and ObtainFile enabled issues one ObtainFile request that completes successfully (closing the file handle but leaving a stale non-NULL pointer in the task), then issues a second ObtainFile that reuses the same task and is crafted so destination creation fails. The error-cleanup path then closes the already-freed FILE object a second time, triggering a double-free that crashes the server. No public exploit code was identified, but the public patch commit directly reveals the triggering sequence.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available

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AnalysisAIv1 – Oct 16, 2026

Remote denial of service in libIEC61850 1.6.1 allows an unauthenticated network attacker to crash an MMS server that has the file service and ObtainFile operation enabled. A successful ObtainFile frees the task's file handle but leaves the stale non-NULL pointer in a task reset to the NOT_USED state; a subsequent ObtainFile that reuses that task and fails destination-file creation then closes the already-freed handle a second time (CWE-415 double free), aborting the server process. Exploitation requires a specific success-then-failure request sequence and reachability to the exposed MMS endpoint; no public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, and impact is limited to availability (CVSS 5.3, AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L) with no data exposure. The flaw is confirmed fixed in version 1.6.2.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: upgrade to libIEC61850 1.6.2, per the release at https://github.com/mz-automation/libiec61850/releases/tag/v1.6.2 and the advisory at https://github.com/mz-automation/libiec61850/security/advisories/GHSA-cxgr-7v9h-fj9p; integrators who vendor or statically link the library should apply commit d86b4a9c7a903641819235e1678b18901518f3cd (or an equivalent patch that closes and NULLs fileHandle on task teardown and clears fileTask->fileHandle in handleConfirmedResponsePdu) and rebuild. If upgrading is not immediately possible, disable the MMS file service or disallow the ObtainFile operation on the server, which makes the vulnerable code path unreachable at the cost of losing file-transfer functionality; because both steps of the trigger sequence must be delivered to the MMS endpoint, also restrict network access to the MMS/TCP listener at the substation firewall or gateway so that only trusted engineering and SCADA subnets can reach it, accepting that this is a perimeter control rather than a root-cause fix. Restart-on-crash supervision (systemd or a watchdog on the server process) limits outage duration but does not prevent the fault, and there is no benefit to credential or authentication hardening here since the vector is PR:N and the trigger needs no valid credentials.

Affected VersionsENISA

libiec61850 1.6.1, < 1.6.2

Affected Packages

euvd libiec61850 fix: 1.6.2

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

libIEC61850 is an open-source C implementation of the IEC 61850 stack used in substation automation and industrial control systems, covering MMS, GOOSE, Sampled Values and R-Session, published by MZ Automation (CPE cpe:2.3:a:mz-automation:libiec61850). The vulnerable component is the MMS server's file service in src/mms/iso_mms/server/mms_file_service.c, where MmsObtainFileTask objects carry a FileSystem file handle used for the ObtainFile file-transfer operation. The root cause is CWE-415 (Double Free): when an ObtainFile succeeds and the transfer completes, the task is returned to MMS_FILE_UPLOAD_STATE_NOT_USED by setting only the state field, without releasing or clearing task->fileHandle, so a dangling pointer survives. If a later ObtainFile request reuses that task and destination-file creation fails, the MMS_FILE_UPLOAD_STATE_SEND_OBTAIN_FILE_ERROR_DESTINATION cleanup path calls FileSystem_closeFile on the stale handle, freeing it a second time and terminating the process. The upstream commit d86b4a9c7a903641819235e1678b18901518f3cd addresses this by introducing a changeObtainFileStateToUnused() helper that closes and NULLs the handle while resetting connection, frmsId, destinationFilename, invoke IDs and timeout state, by caching the IsoConnection pointer locally during task processing so it is not dereferenced after teardown, and by explicitly setting fileTask->fileHandle = NULL in handleConfirmedResponsePdu in mms_server_connection.c. The fix carries no memory-safety or protocol-correctness regressions beyond the state reset semantics.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (GitHub_M) PRIMARY 5.3 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
vuln.today AI 5.3 MEDIUM

Remote unauthenticated attacker-controlled request sequence (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N) triggers a double-free; impact is availability-only server crash (A:L) with no C/I effect.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (GitHub_M).

CVSS VectorVendor: GitHub_M

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Low

Lifecycle Timeline

1
Patch available
Oct 16, 2026 - 17:17 EUVD

DescriptionCVE.org

libIEC61850 is an open-source implementation of IEC 61850 client and server protocols including MMS, GOOSE, Sampled Values, and R-Session. From 1.6.1 until 1.6.2, a successful MMS ObtainFile operation closes MmsObtainFileTask::fileHandle but leaves the stale non-NULL value in a task marked MMS_FILE_UPLOAD_STATE_NOT_USED. If a later ObtainFile request reuses that task and destination creation fails, MMS_FILE_UPLOAD_STATE_SEND_OBTAIN_FILE_ERROR_DESTINATION cleanup closes the stale FILE object again. Servers with the MMS file service and ObtainFile enabled can therefore be crashed remotely by the success-then-failure request sequence. This issue is fixed in version 1.6.2.

Threat Intelligence Overview

Prevalence
Low
niche open-source IEC 61850 library for OT/ICS substation automation
Data Quality
4 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS N/A
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
Yes
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

26
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +26
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

CVE-2018-19185 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Nov 12

An issue has been found in libIEC61850 v1.3. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploita

CVE-2018-18957 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Nov 05

An issue has been found in libIEC61850 v1.3. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploita

CVE-2018-18834 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Oct 30

An issue has been found in libIEC61850 v1.3. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploita

CVE-2020-7054 HIGH POC
8.8 Jan 14

MmsValue_decodeMmsData in mms/iso_mms/server/mms_access_result.c in libIEC61850 through 1.4.0 has a heap-based buffer ov

CVE-2019-19931 HIGH POC
8.8 Dec 23

In libIEC61850 1.4.0, MmsValue_decodeMmsData in mms/iso_mms/server/mms_access_result.c has a heap-based buffer overflow.

CVE-2024-28286 HIGH POC
7.5 Mar 21

In mz-automation libiec61850 v1.4.0, a NULL Pointer Dereference was detected in the mmsServer_handleFileCloseRequest.c f

CVE-2024-26529 HIGH POC
7.5 Mar 13

An issue in mz-automation libiec61850 v.1.5.3 and before, allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) vi

CVE-2023-27772 HIGH POC
7.5 Apr 13

libiec61850 v1.5.1 was discovered to contain a segmentation violation via the function ControlObjectClient_setOrigin() a

CVE-2022-21159 HIGH POC
7.5 Apr 15

A denial of service vulnerability exists in the parseNormalModeParameters functionality of MZ Automation GmbH libiec6185

CVE-2019-16510 HIGH POC
7.5 Sep 19

libIEC61850 through 1.3.3 has a use-after-free in MmsServer_waitReady in mms/iso_mms/server/mms_server.c, as demonstrate

CVE-2019-1010300 HIGH POC
7.5 Jul 15

mz-automation libiec61850 1.3.2 1.3.1 1.3.0 is affected by: Buffer Overflow. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulner

CVE-2019-6719 HIGH POC
7.5 Jan 23

An issue has been found in libIEC61850 v1.3.1. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitabl

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