CVE-2026-22909
Published: 15 January 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-22909 is a high-severity Improper Access Control (CWE-284) vulnerability in Sick Tdc-X401Gl Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Service Stop (T1489); ranked at the 39.4th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 AC-14 (Permitted Actions Without Identification or Authentication) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-22909 is an improper access control vulnerability (CWE-284, CWE-863) affecting certain SICK products, where system functions can be accessed without proper authorization. This allows attackers to start, stop, or delete installed applications, potentially disrupting system operations. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H), indicating high severity due to its network accessibility, low attack complexity, and significant availability impact with no requirements for privileges or user interaction.
Remote attackers require no authentication or privileges to exploit this vulnerability over the network. Successful exploitation enables denial-of-service effects by manipulating installed applications, such as stopping critical processes or deleting software components, which can halt system functionality and disrupt operations in affected environments.
SICK has published detailed advisories via its PSIRT page and specific CSAF documents, including sca-2026-0001 in JSON and PDF formats, outlining mitigation steps. Additional guidance appears in CISA's ICS recommended practices, with CVSS details available via the FIRST calculator.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-2820
Vulnerability details
Certain system functions may be accessed without proper authorization, allowing attackers to start, stop, or delete installed applications, potentially disrupting system operations.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Improper access control enables unauthenticated remote stopping/deletion of applications, directly facilitating Service Stop for availability impact.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
AC-14 explicitly authorizes specific actions without identification or authentication, directly preventing unauthorized remote access to system functions for starting, stopping, or deleting applications.
AC-3 enforces approved authorizations for logical access to system resources, addressing the improper access control that allows unauthenticated manipulation of installed applications.
AC-6 applies least privilege to restrict disruptive actions on applications to only necessary authorized accesses, mitigating the vulnerability's lack of privilege checks.