CVE-2026-16315 in StationGuard
Summary
by MITRE • 08/06/2026
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.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/06/2026
The OMICRON StationGuard authentication vulnerability represents a critical cryptographic weakness that exploits timing side-channel attacks to compromise system security. This vulnerability exists within the backend authentication mechanism of StationGuard versions prior to 4.10, where the cryptographic implementation fails to maintain constant-time operations during credential verification processes. The flaw allows attackers to observe timing variations in the authentication response times, which can be statistically analyzed to infer information about valid credentials and potentially reconstruct authentication tokens or passwords through sophisticated side-channel analysis techniques.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from non-constant time cryptographic operations within the authentication module, creating measurable differences in processing duration when validating legitimate versus invalid credentials. This timing variation occurs because the system does not employ constant-time comparison algorithms for cryptographic hash verification or symmetric key operations. Attackers can leverage this weakness by repeatedly attempting authentication with various credential combinations while monitoring response times, ultimately enabling them to perform credential guessing attacks that would normally be thwarted by standard security measures. The vulnerability specifically affects the cryptographic handshake process and session establishment procedures within the StationGuard system architecture.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates a complete bypass of the authentication and authorization framework, allowing unauthenticated attackers to assume the identity of legitimate users within the system. Once exploited, attackers gain unrestricted access to all system configuration parameters, enabling them to modify critical settings, reset system configurations, or implement unauthorized alterations that could compromise the integrity and availability of the entire security infrastructure. The implications extend beyond simple credential theft, as successful exploitation can lead to complete system compromise and potential lateral movement within network environments where StationGuard serves as a security control.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-327, which addresses weak cryptographic algorithms and improper implementation of cryptographic functions, and specifically relates to CWE-328, focusing on the use of weak hashing algorithms and timing side-channel attacks. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this weakness maps to techniques such as T1566 for credential harvesting through social engineering and T1078 for valid account access, while also supporting T1543 for persistence mechanisms that could be established through configuration modifications. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to StationGuard version 4.10 or later, implementing constant-time cryptographic operations, deploying additional authentication layers such as multi-factor authentication, and establishing monitoring protocols to detect anomalous authentication patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts.