A large cyberattack has targeted refrigeration controllers across hundreds of European supermarkets, causing many fridges and freezers to defrost overnight. The incident affected major chains including Auchan, Carrefour, E[.]Leclerc, Intermarché, and Monoprix, with most damage reported in France but stores in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Spain also impacted. In France, more than 300 locations were cited as affected, with losses running into millions of euros.
Hackers reportedly gained remote control of Danfoss refrigeration controllers, pushing temperatures up to about 50°C for several hours, which led to spoiled products and disrupted operations.
The security picture ties the event to a vulnerability cluster disclosed by Claroty two months earlier in the Danfoss AK-SM 800A management platform. The disclosure described authentication bypass, remote arbitrary code execution, and the ability to inject configuration directives, and urged customers to upgrade to firmware version R4.3.1. Claroty warned that these systems centralise refrigeration management and that compromising the management interface can have serious operational consequences.
It remains unclear whether the attackers exploited these specific flaws, but experts noted the possibility and highlighted the need for patching. The response described by the affected retailer’s CEO and refrigeration specialists focused on rapid restoration of services and a formal investigation to determine full circumstances.