CVE-2026-20792 in Chargemap
Summary
by MITRE • 02/27/2026
The WebSocket Application Programming Interface lacks restrictions on the number of authentication requests. This absence of rate limiting may allow an attacker to conduct denial-of-service attacks by suppressing or misrouting legitimate charger telemetry, or conduct brute-force attacks to gain unauthorized access.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/05/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2026-20792 represents a critical security flaw in WebSocket Application Programming Interface implementations that directly impacts the integrity and availability of connected charging infrastructure systems. This weakness stems from the complete absence of rate limiting mechanisms within the authentication framework, creating an exploitable condition that can be leveraged by malicious actors to compromise system operations. The vulnerability specifically affects environments where WebSocket protocols are used for communication between charging stations and backend systems, particularly in electric vehicle charging networks where telemetry data transmission occurs continuously. The lack of authentication request rate limiting creates a fundamental security gap that undermines the defensive posture of these critical infrastructure components.
The technical flaw manifests as an insufficient control mechanism that fails to monitor or restrict the frequency of authentication attempts within the WebSocket interface. This absence of rate limiting allows an attacker to submit unlimited authentication requests without triggering protective mechanisms that would typically be implemented in secure communication protocols. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and can be exploited through the WebSocket connection itself, bypassing traditional network-level protections that might otherwise prevent excessive traffic patterns. From a cybersecurity perspective, this represents a classic case of inadequate access control enforcement where the system fails to implement basic throttling mechanisms that would prevent abuse of the authentication interface.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial-of-service conditions to encompass potential unauthorized system access and data integrity compromise. Attackers can leverage this weakness to conduct systematic brute-force attacks against authentication credentials, potentially gaining unauthorized access to charging infrastructure management systems. The vulnerability also enables sophisticated denial-of-service scenarios where legitimate telemetry data from charging stations becomes suppressed or misrouted, creating operational disruptions that can affect charging network availability and user experience. This type of attack can be particularly damaging in commercial charging environments where system uptime and reliability are critical business factors. The vulnerability can also be exploited to disrupt the flow of critical operational data, potentially causing cascading effects throughout the charging network infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2026-20792 should focus on implementing comprehensive rate limiting mechanisms within the WebSocket authentication framework. Organizations should deploy authentication request throttling that limits the number of authentication attempts per time period, with configurable thresholds based on system capacity and expected usage patterns. The implementation should include adaptive rate limiting that can adjust based on traffic patterns and potential threat indicators. Security controls should also incorporate monitoring and alerting for unusual authentication request volumes that could indicate exploitation attempts. From an industry standards perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-307, which addresses improper restriction of repeated Authentication Attempts, and could be addressed through ATT&CK technique T1110, which covers Brute Force attacks. Network segmentation and additional authentication layers such as multi-factor authentication can provide additional defense in depth. The solution must be carefully implemented to avoid legitimate user access disruption while maintaining effective protection against automated attack vectors.