Security Resilience

CVE-2026-6284

Published
17 April 2026
Modified
20 April 2026
CVSS Score v4 9.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0048 40th percentile
Risk Priority 46 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). EPSS scores by FIRST (EPSS SIG), generated by Empirical Security. Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2026-6284 is a critical-severity Weak Password Requirements (CWE-521) vulnerability in Hornerautomation (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 9.3 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Remote Services (T1021); ranked at the 40th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to IA-5 (Authenticator Management) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2026-6284 is a vulnerability in Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) that enables an attacker with network access to brute-force discover passwords, leading to unauthorized access to systems and services. The flaw arises from limited password complexity combined with no password input limiters, facilitating brute-force password enumeration. It is associated with CWE-521 (Weak Password Requirements) and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.1 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N).

An unauthenticated attacker with network connectivity to the affected PLC can exploit this vulnerability with low complexity and no user interaction required. Successful brute-forcing allows the attacker to gain unauthorized access, potentially compromising the confidentiality and integrity of PLC systems and services.

CISA ICS Advisory ICSA-26-106-02 provides details on the vulnerability, available at https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-advisories/icsa-26-106-02, with a corresponding CSAF file at https://github.com/cisagov/CSAF/blob/develop/csaf_files/OT/white/2026/icsa-26-106-02.json. Additional information is hosted by Horner Automation at https://hornerautomation.com/cscape-software-free/cscape-software/.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A07:2025 Authentication Failures

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An attacker with network access to the PLC is able to brute force discover passwords to gain unauthorized access to systems and services. The limited password complexity and no password input limiters makes brute force password enumeration possible.

CWE(s)
CWE-521

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1021 Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may use [Valid Accounts](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
T1078 Valid Accounts Stealth
Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of existing accounts as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion.
attack.mitre.org →
T1110 Brute Force Credential Access
Adversaries may use brute force techniques to gain access to accounts when passwords are unknown or when password hashes are obtained.
attack.mitre.org →
T1110.001 Password Guessing Credential Access
Adversaries with no prior knowledge of legitimate credentials within the system or environment may guess passwords to attempt access to accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1110.002 Password Cracking Credential Access
Adversaries may use password cracking to attempt to recover usable credentials, such as plaintext passwords, when credential material such as password hashes are obtained.
attack.mitre.org →
T1110.003 Password Spraying Credential Access
Adversaries may use a single or small list of commonly used passwords against many different accounts to attempt to acquire valid account credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-1346Shared CWE-521
CVE-2023-0569Shared CWE-521
CVE-2023-7053Shared CWE-521
CVE-2023-2060Shared CWE-521
CVE-2025-9514Shared CWE-521
CVE-2025-5022Shared CWE-521
CVE-2026-33771Shared CWE-521
CVE-2023-31098Shared CWE-521
CVE-2024-41778Shared CWE-521
CVE-2023-29974Shared CWE-521

Affected Assets

Hornerautomation
—
inferred from references and description; NVD did not file a CPE for this CVE

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 1 OS baseline
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.2.4
  • V6.2.12
  • V6.4.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

IA-5 Authenticator Management good match

IA-5 directly requires organizations to enforce strength, complexity, and change rules for passwords and other authenticators at issuance and reset.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-03 full match
blocks

Explicitly requires enforcing minimum password strength as part of authentication.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.17 Authentication information full match
removes

A.5.17 mandates strong password requirements, so applying it to a system that previously lacked them removes the weakness by imposing the requirement.

A.8.9 Configuration management mostly match
removes

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

RHEL 7 (2 rules)
  • V-204424 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not allow accounts configured with blank or null passwords. blocks CWE-521
  • V-204425 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that the SSH daemon does not allow authentication using an empty password. blocks CWE-521

References