Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessAttach malicious device to EtherCAT bus
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DeliverySend error response to master
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ExploitMaster clears internal pointer, keeps processing
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ExecutionSend second message before timeout
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ImpactNULL pointer dereference crashes master
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A10:2025 - Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions
ASVS 5.0
V16 - Security Logging and Error Handling Null pointer safety, defensive checks
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Impact The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | The attacker must be a device on the same EtherCAT network segment as the SOEM master (Adjacent vector, AV:A) - this is a fieldbus/OT-network precondition, not remote Internet reachability. No authentication or user interaction is required (PR:N/UI:N). The concrete trigger is a two-step message sequence: a malicious device first sends an error response (causing SOEM to clear an internal pointer while continuing to process), then sends a second message before the timeout expires so the master uses the cleared pointer, producing a NULL dereference crash. Limiting factors: affected only in SOEM version 2.0.0 and earlier, impact is availability/DoS only (no code execution or data access), and reachability is bounded to the local EtherCAT bus rather than arbitrary networks. |
| Impact | This is a medium-severity availability-only flaw (CVSS 6.5, CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) whose single most important real-world limiter is the Adjacent attack vector: exploitation requires the attacker to already be a device on the same EtherCAT fieldbus segment as the SOEM master, not a remote Internet attacker. Against that position the barrier is low - PR:N means no authentication and AC:L plus the description's 'simple sequence of two messages' indicate reliable triggering with no race-grooming or special timing skill, since the attacker controls both the error response and the follow-up message sent before timeout. Impact is confined to availability (C:N/I:N/A:H): a crash/DoS of the master, with no code execution or data exposure claimed. Threat-intel signals are weak-to-absent: no EPSS score is provided, KEV status is NO (not CISA-listed), and no public exploit or PoC reference is present - only a vendor advisory PDF. The vuln.today priority is 'this_month', consistent with a genuine but non-emergency OT availability issue rather than an act-now crisis. Net: a credible, easy-to-trigger DoS for anyone already on the industrial bus, but the adjacent-only reachability and availability-only impact keep it a scheduled-patch priority rather than a drop-everything event. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker controlling or impersonating a malicious device on the EtherCAT network sends an error response to the SOEM master, which clears an internal pointer but continues processing. Before the timeout elapses the attacker sends a second message, causing the master to dereference the now-cleared (NULL) pointer and crash, denying control of the EtherCAT segment. No public exploit identified at time of analysis; only a vendor advisory is referenced. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 26, 2026
SOEM (Simple Open EtherCAT Master) 2.0.0 and earlier can be crashed by a malicious device on the same EtherCAT segment: an error response causes the library to clear an internal pointer while continuing to process, and a second message arriving before the timeout makes the master dereference that cleared pointer. The result is a NULL pointer dereference that takes down the master process, so impact is limited to availability (CVSS 6.5, AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) with no code execution or data exposure. Exploitation requires the attacker to be a device on the local fieldbus, no public exploit code or confirmed active exploitation was identified at time of analysis, and the vendor advisory RRTL-260921-01 documents the issue.
RemediationAI
Apply the vendor's fixed release for SOEM once available per advisory RRTL-260921-01 (https://rt-labs.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/RRTL-260921-01.pdf); the supplied data does not specify an exact fixed version number, so confirm the patched tag in the advisory before upgrading and rebuild any product that statically links SOEM. Because the flaw is triggered by a malicious EtherCAT device, restrict the fieldbus segment to trusted, physically controlled slaves and segment the master's network from untrusted or guest equipment; note that this only reduces exposure and does not fix the dereference. There is no vendor-stated workaround in the provided sources, and the decision label is this_month with availability-only impact, so prioritize masters reachable by untrusted devices rather than treating it as an emergency.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
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
SOEM is an open-source EtherCAT master stack (rt-labs AB) used in industrial/OT control software that talks to EtherCAT slave devices over a shared fieldbus segment. The defect is classed as CWE-476, NULL pointer dereference: on receipt of an error response the code path clears an internal pointer but does not abort processing, so when a subsequent message is received before the timeout expires the stale/cleared pointer is used and the master crashes. The CPE string cpe:2.3:a:rt-labs_ab:soem:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* covers the library, and the vendor states the issue affects version 2.0.0 and earlier. The CVSS vector's adjacent attack vector reflects that the malicious party must already be a participant on the EtherCAT network segment; the sources do not describe any deeper mechanism beyond the two-message sequencing.
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Severity by source
AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Adjacent EtherCAT bus access only (AV:A); attacker-controlled two-message sequence triggers reliably (AC:L); no auth or interaction (PR:N/UI:N); availability-only crash (C:N/I:N/A:H).
Primary rating from Vendor (ENISA).
CVSS VectorVendor: ENISA
Lifecycle Timeline
1DescriptionCVE.org
SOEM version 2.0.0 and earlier contains a vulnerability where a malicious device can crash the master system. When the software receives an error response, it clears an internal pointer but continues processing. If another message arrives before timeout, the software attempts to use the cleared pointer, causing a crash. An attacker can trigger this with a simple sequence of two messages.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
A null pointer dereference occurs when a program attempts to access memory through a pointer that has been set to NULL (address 0x0).
Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.
Memory corruption in rt-labs SOEM 2.0.0 and earlier allows a malicious or compromised EtherCAT slave device on the same
Memory corruption in SOEM (Simple Open EtherCAT Master) 2.0.0 and earlier lets a malicious or compromised device on the
Out-of-bounds reads in the SOEM EtherCAT master library (2.0.0 and earlier) let a malicious or compromised device on the
Memory corruption in the rt-labs SOEM EtherCAT master library (version 2.0.0 and earlier) allows a malicious or compromi
An out-of-bounds read in the SOEM EtherCAT master library (version 2.0.0 and earlier) lets a malicious or compromised Et
EUVD-2026-109679
GHSA-m2qv-7w8c-3r6g
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB