CVE-2026-16437 in AnalytiX
Summary
by MITRE • 10/15/2026
Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password vulnerability in Mitsubishi Electric GENESIS versions 11.03 and prior, GENESIS64 versions 10.97.3 and prior, ICONICS Suite versions 10.97.3 and prior, Hyper Historian versions 10.97.3 and prior, AnalytiX versions 10.97.3 and prior, MobileHMI 10.97.3 and prior, IoTWorX 10.97.3 and prior, MC Works64 all versions, GENESIS32 all versions, BizViz all versions, Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions GENESIS versions 11.03 and prior, GENESIS64 versions 10.97.3 and prior, ICONICS Suite versions 10.97.3 and prior, Hyper Historian versions 10.97.3 and prior, AnalytiX versions 10.97.3 and prior, MobileHMI 10.97.3 and prior, IoTWorX 10.97.3 and prior, GENESIS32 all versions, and BizViz all versions allows an authenticated local user with administrative privileges to unlock the system by tampering with the management file that stores the challenge response. Administrators are able to read and write the management file. But the management file is protected by Windows. As a result, the attacker may disclose, tamper with, destroy, or delete internal information, or cause the affected system to enter a denial-of-service (DoS) condition.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/15/2026
The vulnerability identified in Mitsubishi Electric GENESIS and related industrial software suites represents a critical weakness in the password recovery mechanism for administrative accounts. This flaw affects multiple versions of GENESIS 11.03 and prior, as well as various iterations of ICONICS Suite, Hyper Historian, AnalytiX, MobileHMI, IoTWorX, MC Works64, GENESIS32, BizViz, and Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions up to version 10.97.3. The core issue lies in the implementation of the forgotten password feature, which relies on a management file containing challenge-response data used for system unlocking or credential reset operations. While the application logic permits authenticated local administrators to read and write this specific management file, it fails to enforce sufficient integrity checks or cryptographic protections beyond standard Windows operating system permissions. This design oversight allows an attacker with existing administrative privileges to manipulate the internal state of the authentication mechanism without triggering appropriate security alerts or validation failures.
From a technical perspective, the flaw is rooted in improper access control and insufficient data integrity verification within the application layer. Although the management file is protected by standard Windows file system permissions, which restricts access to users with elevated rights, this boundary is already breached if an attacker has obtained administrative privileges through other means such as privilege escalation or compromised credentials. Once inside this perimeter, the lack of additional safeguards allows the administrator account holder to directly tamper with the challenge-response parameters stored in the management file. By altering these values, the attacker can effectively bypass the intended password recovery controls, potentially unlocking restricted system functions or resetting administrative passwords without proper authorization verification. This behavior aligns closely with CWE-284 Improper Access Control and CWE-359 Exposure of Private Information to an Unauthorized Actor, as it permits unauthorized modification of sensitive security-related data structures that should be immutable during normal operation unless strictly validated by the application logic itself rather than relying solely on operating system permissions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe due to its potential for lateral movement and persistent access within industrial control systems or enterprise environments running these software suites. An attacker who exploits this flaw can disclose internal configuration data, tamper with critical process parameters, destroy essential files, or delete logs that might otherwise reveal their presence. Furthermore, the ability to manipulate authentication mechanisms increases the risk of denial-of-service conditions if the system becomes unstable due to corrupted management files. In industrial settings where GENESIS and related tools are used for supervisory control and data acquisition, such tampering could lead to unsafe operational states, production downtime, or physical damage to connected machinery. The vulnerability also facilitates persistence by allowing attackers to maintain administrative access even after initial credentials have been rotated, as they can reset the password mechanism at will using the compromised management file.
Mitigation strategies must focus on both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements. Mitsubishi Electric has released updates addressing this issue in versions newer than 10.97.3 for most products and beyond GENESIS 11.03, so upgrading to patched versions is the primary recommendation. For systems that cannot be immediately updated, administrators should enforce strict least-privilege principles by limiting who holds local administrative rights on servers hosting these applications. Implementing file integrity monitoring tools can help detect unauthorized modifications to the management files in real-time. Additionally, enabling comprehensive audit logging for access to sensitive configuration directories and authentication components will aid in early detection of exploitation attempts. Security teams should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication where supported by the platform to reduce reliance on single-point password mechanisms that are susceptible to local file manipulation attacks.
This vulnerability maps directly to MITRE ATT&CK techniques involving credential dumping or modification, specifically T1098 Account Manipulation and potentially T1530 Data from Information Repositories if sensitive data is exfiltrated via the tampered files. It also reflects common pitfalls in industrial software development where security controls are delegated entirely to the underlying operating system without implementing application-level defenses such as digital signatures for configuration files or secure enclaves for storing challenge-response hashes. Addressing this requires a shift toward defense-in-depth strategies that assume administrative compromise is possible and therefore require additional layers of verification beyond simple file permissions. Organizations must treat these management files with the same level of scrutiny as database credentials, ensuring they are encrypted at rest and validated upon every access to prevent silent corruption or malicious alteration by privileged users.