Summary
This advisory addresses multiple security vulnerabilities in Phoenix Contact products using the software CodeMeter Runtime like licensed desktop software tools. These security vulnerabilities only may occur with CodeMeter Runtime 8.x versions
Impact
The reported vulnerabilities allow unauthenticated attackers to delete arbitrary files, to read and overwrite sensitive configuration data and to crash Codemeter Runtime. These security vulnerabilities may occur on systems with operating systems Windows, Linux and Mac with installed Phoenix Contact software tools (see affected products).
Affected Product(s)
| Model no. | Product name | Affected versions |
|---|---|---|
| Activation Wizard <1.8.2 | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<1.8.2 | |
| 1662166 | CLIPX ENGINEER ASSEMBLE <1.3.1 | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<1.3.1 |
| 1086929 | EV Charging Suite 10 Charge Points (EV-CC-S-SUITE-CP10) <V1.7.1 | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<1.7.1 |
| 1153508 | EV Charging Suite 20 Charge Points (EV-CC-S-SUITE-CP20) <1.7.1 | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<1.7.1 |
| 1086921 | EV Charging Suite 30 Charge Points (EV-CC-S-SUITE-CP30) <1.7.1 | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<1.7.1 |
| 1153509 | EV Charging Suite 5 Charge Points (EV-CC-S-SUITE-CP5) <1.7.1 | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<1.7.1 |
| 1086920 | EV Charging Suite 50 Charge Points (EV-CC-S-SUITE-CP50) <V1.7.1 | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<1.7.1 |
| 1128335 | EV Charging Suite 50 Charge Points (EV-CC-S-SUITE-OEM) <1.7.1 | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<1.7.1 |
| 2702889 | FL Network Manager <10.0 | vers:semver/>=0.0|<10.0 |
| 1534453 | IO-Link ENGINEER <6.0.1.11090 | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<6.0.1.11090 |
| 1083065 | IOL Conf <1.7.0.169 | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<1.7.0.169 |
| 1669297 | MARKING system <1.3 | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<1.3 |
| 1697763 | MLnext Creation <2026.12 | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<2026.12 |
| 1391115 | MLnext Execution <2026.12 | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<2026.12 |
| 1636198 | MTP DESIGNER <1.3.3 | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<1.3.3 |
| 1636200 | MTP DESIGNER TRIAL <1.3.3 | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<1.3.3 |
| 1046008 | PLCnext Engineer <2026.0.5 LTS | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<2026.0.5 LTS |
| 1165891 | PLCnext Engineer EDU LIC <2026.0.5 LTS | vers:semver/>=0.0.0|<2026.0.5 LTS |
Vulnerabilities
Expand / Collapse allIf CodeMeter Runtime before 8.41a or 9.10 is configured as a server, the configuration command handler does not enforce network- origin restrictions. Commands intended only for local or same-network clients can therefore be executed by arbitrary remote peers. An attacker can read potentially sensitive configuration data and overwrite selected values in Server.ini. This does include the hash of the credentials for the CodeMeter WebAdmin, enabling WebAdmin takeover.
In CodeMeter Runtime before versions 8.41a and 9.10, the logger does not sanitize input strings in certain cases, allowing an attacker to inject printf-style format specifiers. This can be used to reliably crash CodeMeter and disclose sensitive information such as process memory and stack canaries. The attack works locally, for example by using cmu --set-proxy to set the proxy value, and remotely when combined with CVE-2026-81573 by setting General.ProxyServer and then triggering this vulnerability.
In CodeMeter Runtime from version 8.40 to (excluding) 8.41a and 9.00 to (excluding) 9.10, cmu.exe --create-io --file C: creates a predictable temporary file under C:\CM-Stick. The directory and file paths are not properly checked for NTFS reparse points, such as junctions or symbolic links, before file operations are performed. A local attacker can create a junction at the temporary file that points to an arbitrary system path. Because CodeMeter Runtime runs with System privileges, this could allow arbitrary files to be deleted with System privileges and potentially enable local privilege escalation.
If configured as a server, CodeMeter Runtime before versions 8.41a and 9.10 issues handles per connection and relies on a cryptographically weak SID as sole authenticator. An attacker can brute-force the SID, recover another session's handle number, and read license information belonging to another handle.
If configured as a server, CodeMeter Runtime before versions 8.41a and 9.10 accepts requests with opcode 0x5e, which contain the data length and the data itself. Missing bounds checking on the data length value can lead to out of bounds reads, causing a segmentation fault that ultimately crashes the CodeMeter Runtime.
Mitigation
Phoenix Contact strongly recommends affected users to upgrade to CodeMeter Runtime >=V8.41a or >=V9.10, which fixes these vulnerabilities. WIBU-SYSTEMS has already published CodeMeter Runtime updates on their homepage. Since the updated versions of Codemeter Runtime have not yet been incorporated into Phoenix Contact software tools, we strongly recommend to download and install the updated CodeMeter Runtime version e.g. for Windows directly from the WIBU-SYSTEMS homepage.
If you enabled the network server functionality on a Windows, Linux or Mac-system at some point but no longer need it, disable it.
If you are using CodeMeter Runtime 9.00 or newer, you can use cmu --disable-network-server.
If you are using older versions of CodeMeter Runtime, do the following:
On Windows:
+ Open the Registry Editor.
+ Navigate to "computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WIBU-SYSTEMS\CodeMeter\Server\CurrentVersion\".
+ Then change the value of NetworkServer from 1 to 0.
+ Restart CodeMeter.
On Linux and Mac:
+ Stop CodeMeter.
+ Edit the file under "/etc/wibu/CodeMeter/Server.ini":
Under [General], change the value IsNetworkServer from 1 to 0.
• Then start CodeMeter again.
Remediation
Updates for the affected products are planned for Q4 2026. Until the fix is available, please follow the mitigation measures and check the respective product page on the Phoenix Contact website regularly to see if the fix is already available.
| Product Name | Planned Fixed Version |
|---|---|
| Activation Wizard | 1.8.2 |
| PLCnext Engineer | 2026.0.5 LTS |
| PLCnext Engineer EDU LIC | 2026.0.5 LTS |
| FL Network Manager | 10.0 |
| CLIPX ENGINEER ASSEMBLE | 1.3.1 |
| MLnext Execution | 2026.12 |
| MLnext Creation | 2026.12 |
| IO-Link ENGINEER | 6.0.1.11090 |
| MARKING system | 1.3 |
Acknowledgments
Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co. KG thanks the following parties for their efforts:
- CERT@VDE for coordination. (see https://certvde.com )
- Wibu-Systems for Reporting. (see https://www.wibu.com/support/security-advisories.html )
- Vector Informatik GmbH, Andrew Teylu for Reporting.
- Shelltrail AB, Andreas Vikerup for Reporting (see https://shelltrail.com/research/local-privilege-escalation-to-system-in-wibu-systems-codemeter-application )
Revision History
| Version | Date | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0.0 | 11/04/2026 12:00 | Initial |