Short: PIBuster: Exploiting a Common Misconfiguration in CCS EV Chargers

This paper presents PIBuster, a new attack vector against the EV charging infrastructure. The attack targets the Qualcomm HomePlug GreenPHY modems used inside CCS chargers and vehicles, and is enabled by a common misconfiguration in their Parameter Information Block (PIB). The vulnerability allows an attacker to overwrite the PIB of modems, which contains many critical fields. We create a safe laboratory testbed for evaluating PIB security, use it to pinpoint the necessary conditions for the attack, and determine that a single configuration byte is responsible. We collect a large dataset of PIBs from real-world EV chargers, and evaluate them using our test bed, determining that 41 out of 69 charging stations exhibit the vulnerable configuration. Finally, we identify a specific high-impact attack that results in a persistent denial of service, and that can only be resolved by replacing hardware.