Dangerous flaws in refrigeration equipment were disclosed months before retail attacks

Months before hackers targeted refrigeration equipment across hundreds of grocery stores in France, a U.S.-based cybersecurity firm discovered high-severity flaws in internet-exposed equipment that could make such an attack possible.

Researchers at Claroty, in an August report, warned of multiple flaws in the web management interface of Danfoss AK-SM 800A controllers, which are used in refrigeration equipment across multiple industries.

Claroty disclosed the vulnerabilities to Danfoss, and the Danish manufacturer issued an advisory for two vulnerabilities, including CVE-2025-41451 and CVE-2025-41452.

About 300 Intermarché and Netto stores were affected by the attack, which reportedly targeted a service provider that manages refrigeration equipment at the stores.

Braley said information from Danfoss shows that most of the targeted systems are older and are no longer receiving active firmware or security updates.