Critical

CPDLC over ATN-B1 Vulnerabilities

All CISA Advisories

Overview

Recent research has identified several vulnerabilities in the Controller-Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) system that operates over the Aeronautical Telecommunications Network (ATN-B1). These vulnerabilities stem from the use of legacy, unauthenticated radio frequency links, which could allow attackers to inject unauthorized messages, disrupt communications, and reset sessions. Although these issues do not directly compromise aircraft safety, they could create confusion and increase the workload for pilots and air traffic controllers, potentially impacting operational safety. The vulnerabilities affect all versions of CPDLC over ATN-B1, with several specific CVEs (CVE-2025-71409 to CVE-2025-71413) documented. Currently, there are no available mitigations or patches for these vulnerabilities, and while they can be exploited in laboratory settings, there have been no reports of active exploitation in the wild.

Key Takeaways

  • Affected Systems: Affected products include all versions of CPDLC over ATN-B1. Specific vulnerabilities include CVE-2025-71409 (lack of authentication), CVE-2025-71410 (session termination), CVE-2025-71411 (disconnecting multiple aircraft), CVE-2025-71412 (injection of false messages), and CVE-2025-71413 (not specified).
  • Action Required: Currently, there are no mitigations available for the vulnerabilities.
  • Timeline: Newly disclosed

Original Article Summary

View CSAF Summary ATN-B1 CPDLC relies on legacy clear text unauthenticated radio frequency links. Research demonstrates that these characteristics allow unauthorized message injection, denial-of-service conditions, and forced session resets. These vulnerabilities do not constitute an unsafe aircraft condition but can degrade operational safety margins by increasing workload, delaying safety-critical instructions, and reducing situational awareness. The following versions of CPDLC over ATN-B1 Vulnerabilities are affected: ATN-B1 CPDLC vers:all/* (CVE-2025-71409, CVE-2025-71410, CVE-2025-71411, CVE-2025-71412, CVE-2025-71413) CVSS Standard Equipment Vulnerabilities v3 7.1 Advisory Circular 90-117 Data Link Communications CPDLC over ATN-B1 Vulnerabilities Missing Authentication for Critical Function, Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling, Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions Background Critical Infrastructure Sectors: Transportation Systems Countries/Areas Deployed: Worldwide Company Headquarters Location: Global Vulnerabilities Expand All + CVE-2025-71409 Lack of authentication for Very High Frequency Data Link messages allows rogue ground stations to inject CPDLC messages leading to unexpected or misleading clearances and potential pilot confusion. This type of attack can be carried out remotely over radio frequency. View CVE Details Affected Products CPDLC over ATN-B1 Vulnerabilities Standard: Advisory Circular 90-117 Data Link Communications Product Version: Advisory Circular 90-117 Data Link Communications ATN-B1 CPDLC: vers:all/* Product Status: known_affected Remediations None available Currently, there is no mitigation available for CVE-2025-71409, CVE-2025-71410, CVE-2025-71411, CVE-2025-71412, CVE-2025-71413. Mitigation These vulnerabilities in the CPDLC protocol stack are exploitable in a lab environment. However, they require very specific conditions to be met and are unlikely to be exploited outside of a lab setting. Mitigation Organizations observing suspected malicious activity should follow established internal procedures and report findings to CISA for tracking and correlation against other incidents. Mitigation No known public exploitation specifically targeting these vulnerabilities has been reported to CISA at this time. These vulnerabilities have a high attack complexity. Relevant CWE: CWE-306 Missing Authentication for Critical Function Metrics CVSS Version Base Score Base Severity Vector String 3.1 7.1 HIGH CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:L 4.0 7.1 HIGH CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:H/SA:L CVE-2025-71410 Unnumbered Disconnect (U DISC) and malformed Aviation Very High Frequency Link Control frames can terminate sessions and lead to a loss of CPDLC functions requiring a reversion to voice communication and increased controller workload. This type of attack can be carried out remotely over radio frequency. View CVE Details Affected Products CPDLC over ATN-B1 Vulnerabilities Standard: Advisory Circular 90-117 Data Link Communications Product Version: Advisory Circular 90-117 Data Link Communications ATN-B1 CPDLC: vers:all/* Product Status: known_affected Remediations None available Currently, there is no mitigation available for CVE-2025-71409, CVE-2025-71410, CVE-2025-71411, CVE-2025-71412, CVE-2025-71413. Mitigation These vulnerabilities in the CPDLC protocol stack are exploitable in a lab environment. However, they require very specific conditions to be met and are unlikely to be exploited outside of a lab setting. Mitigation Organizations observing suspected malicious activity should follow established internal procedures and report findings to CISA for tracking and correlation against other incidents. Mitigation No known public exploitation specifically targeting these vulnerabilities has been reported to CISA at this time. These vulnerabilities have a high attack complexity. Relevant CWE: CWE-770 Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling Metrics CVSS Version Base Score Base Severity Vector String 3.1 5.3 MEDIUM CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H 4.0 6 MEDIUM CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N CVE-2025-71411 Broadcast control frames can disconnect multiple aircraft simultaneously leading to delayed clearances and air traffic controller overload. This type of attack can be carried out remotely over radio frequency. View CVE Details Affected Products CPDLC over ATN-B1 Vulnerabilities Standard: Advisory Circular 90-117 Data Link Communications Product Version: Advisory Circular 90-117 Data Link Communications ATN-B1 CPDLC: vers:all/* Product Status: known_affected Remediations None available Currently, there is no mitigation available for CVE-2025-71409, CVE-2025-71410, CVE-2025-71411, CVE-2025-71412, CVE-2025-71413. Mitigation These vulnerabilities in the CPDLC protocol stack are exploitable in a lab environment. However, they require very specific conditions to be met and are unlikely to be exploited outside of a lab setting. Mitigation Organizations observing suspected malicious activity should follow established internal procedures and report findings to CISA for tracking and correlation against other incidents. Mitigation No known public exploitation specifically targeting these vulnerabilities has been reported to CISA at this time. These vulnerabilities have a high attack complexity. Relevant CWE: CWE-770 Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling Metrics CVSS Version Base Score Base Severity Vector String 3.1 5.3 MEDIUM CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H 4.0 6 MEDIUM CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N CVE-2025-71412 Injection of false emergency or status messages over CPDLC may lead to misallocation of resources, operational confusion, and improper response actions by flight crews, traffic controllers, and ground operations. This type of attack can be carried out remotely over radio frequency. View CVE Details Affected Products CPDLC over ATN-B1 Vulnerabilities Standard: Advisory Circular 90-117 Data Link Communications Product Version: Advisory Circular 90-117 Data Link Communications ATN-B1 CPDLC: vers:all/* Product Status: known_affected Remediations None available Currently, there is no mitigation available for CVE-2025-71409, CVE-2025-71410, CVE-2025-71411, CVE-2025-71412, CVE-2025-71413. Mitigation These vulnerabilities in the CPDLC protocol stack are exploitable in a lab environment. However, they require very specific conditions to be met and are unlikely to be exploited outside of a lab setting. Mitigation Organizations observing suspected malicious activity should follow established internal procedures and report findings to CISA for tracking and correlation against other incidents. Mitigation No known public exploitation specifically targeting these vulnerabilities has been reported to CISA at this time. These vulnerabilities have a high attack complexity. Relevant CWE: CWE-754 Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions Metrics CVSS Version Base Score Base Severity Vector String 3.1 7.1 HIGH CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:L 4.0 7.1 HIGH CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:H/SA:L CVE-2025-71413 Malformed or out-of-sequence frames at the Aviation Very High Frequency Link Control X.25 layers cause repeated resets which may result in increased workload and reduced situational awareness. This type of attack can be carried out remotely over radio frequency. View CVE Details Affected Products CPDLC over ATN-B1 Vulnerabilities Standard: Advisory Circular 90-117 Data Link Communications Product Version: Advisory Circular 90-117 Data Link Communications ATN-B1 CPDLC: vers:all/* Product Status: known_affected Remediations None available Currently, there is no mitigation available for CVE-2025-71409, CVE-2025-71410, CVE-2025-71411, CVE-2025-71412, CVE-2025-71413. Mitigation These vulnerabilities in the CPDLC protocol stack are exploitable in a lab environment. However, they require very specific conditions to be met and are unlikely to be exploited outside of a lab setting. Mitigation Organizations observing suspected malicious activity should follow established internal procedures and report findings to CISA for tracking and correlation against other incidents. Mitigation No known public exploitation specifically targeting these vulnerabilities has been reported to CISA at this time. These vulnerabilities have a high attack complexity. Relevant CWE: CWE-754 Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions Metrics CVSS Version Base Score Base Severity Vector String 3.1 5.3 MEDIUM CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H 4.0 6 MEDIUM CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N Acknowledgments Martin Strohmeier of Armasuisse reported these vulnerabilities to CISA Legal Notice and Terms of Use This product is provided subject to this Notification (https://www.cisa.gov/notification) and this Privacy & Use policy (https://www.cisa.gov/privacy-policy). Revision History Initial Release Date: 2026-08-07 Date Revision Summary 2026-08-07 1 Initial Publication Legal Notice and Terms of Use

Impact

Affected products include all versions of CPDLC over ATN-B1. Specific vulnerabilities include CVE-2025-71409 (lack of authentication), CVE-2025-71410 (session termination), CVE-2025-71411 (disconnecting multiple aircraft), CVE-2025-71412 (injection of false messages), and CVE-2025-71413 (not specified).

Exploitation Status

No active exploitation has been reported at this time. However, organizations should still apply patches promptly as proof-of-concept code may exist.

Timeline

Newly disclosed

Remediation

Currently, there are no mitigations available for the vulnerabilities. Organizations are advised to monitor for suspicious activity and report findings to CISA.

Additional Information

This threat intelligence is aggregated from trusted cybersecurity sources. For the most up-to-date information, technical details, and official vendor guidance, please refer to the original article linked below.

Related Topics: This incident relates to CVE, Critical.

Related Coverage

NGINX Fixes 5 Flaws, Including Possible RCE and a TLS Bug That May Skip Client-Cert Checks

The Hacker News

NGINX has released updates to address five vulnerabilities, including a significant flaw that has persisted since May 2005. Among these are three memory-related issues that could crash a worker process or potentially allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code, contingent on specific configurations. Additionally, one vulnerability could enable attackers to forge a TLS session, bypassing client certificate checks. These vulnerabilities affect all versions of NGINX since the identified flaw's introduction, making it crucial for users to update promptly. The release of versions 1.30.6 and 1.31.7 on October 14 is a direct response to these security risks, emphasizing the need for users to maintain up-to-date software to protect against exploitation.

Oct 15, 2026

Next.js Ships Out-of-Band Patch for Two Critical RCE Flaws in Caching and SVG Processing

The Hacker News

Next.js has rolled out an urgent security patch that addresses two serious vulnerabilities allowing unauthenticated remote code execution (RCE) and a high-severity denial-of-service (DoS) issue. The first RCE flaw is linked to React Server Components, while the second involves librsvg, an open-source library used by Next.js for processing SVG images through the sharp package. This update, released on October 14, is crucial for developers using Next.js, as it can prevent attackers from executing malicious code on affected systems. Users should apply this patch promptly to protect their applications from potential exploitation. The vulnerabilities could have serious implications for any web applications relying on Next.js, making swift remediation essential.

Oct 15, 2026

Fake AI Attacks Spread Across US Companies: How MSSPs Can Stop Incidents Early

The Hacker News

A new wave of cyberattacks is targeting US companies through fake AI products. Attackers are mimicking popular AI software to spread malware, hijack browser sessions, and compromise business accounts. Research from ANY.RUN identified over 1,200 instances of these campaigns between April and October 2026, with a significant portion of the attacks aimed at US businesses. This surge in malicious activity is putting additional strain on Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs), who are struggling to keep up with the growing threat. Companies need to be vigilant about the authenticity of AI tools they use and ensure they have adequate security measures in place to protect against these deceptive tactics.

Oct 15, 2026

Why AI Confidence Is Not Validation

The Hacker News

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used in digital forensics and incident response, but there are growing concerns about the reliability of these tools. As AI systems become more confident in their outputs, practitioners have not yet established effective methods to verify that information. This lack of governance and validation standards poses a risk, as inaccuracies in AI-generated results can lead to significant missteps in cybersecurity efforts. The gap between AI confidence and human verification could result in uncontained errors that may affect broader systems and organizations. Addressing this issue is crucial for ensuring that AI supports rather than undermines cybersecurity practices.

Oct 15, 2026

India Mandates Registered Caller Name Display on 4G and Newer Networks From November 1

The Hacker News

Starting November 1, 2026, the Indian government will require telecom service providers to display the registered names of callers along with their phone numbers for incoming calls. This new regulation aims to help users identify unknown numbers and reduce the volume of spam and fraudulent calls. The Department of Telecommunications issued a circular to enforce this change, indicating a proactive approach to enhance caller transparency. By making it easier for individuals to recognize who is calling, the government hopes to protect citizens from potential scams and unwanted solicitations. This initiative is part of a broader effort to improve telecommunications security and user experience in India.

Oct 15, 2026

GhostAction Compromises About 1,900 GitHub Accounts, Targets Over 30,000 Repositories

The Hacker News

A credential-theft campaign named GhostAction has recently intensified, affecting around 1,900 GitHub accounts. This attack, observed by GitGuardian on October 8 and 9, 2026, targeted over 30,000 repositories linked to approximately 3,000 users and organizations. The attackers aimed to extract sensitive information, specifically 3,174 secrets from public repositories' Continuous Integration (CI) systems. This incident raises significant concerns for developers and organizations using GitHub, as compromised accounts can lead to unauthorized access and potential data breaches. Users are advised to secure their accounts and monitor their repositories for any suspicious activity.

Oct 15, 2026