# Refrigeration outages at up to a dozen US military commissaries, investigated by Army CID's Cyber Field Office (cause unconfirmed) · pwn.watch > Starting Aug 26, refrigeration at Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) stores on at least six US bases failed within days of each other, with some freezers going into defrost mode overnight and thousands of dollars of meat, dairy, produce and frozen food thrown out. Army CID's Cyber Field Office and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations confirmed investigations, with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service in the lead. The Pentagon only acknowledges a "possible refrigeration disruption" and no cause has been announced, so this is not a confirmed cyberattack; Reuters later noted it resembles the October attacks on French supermarket refrigeration controllers. Page: https://pwn.watch/i/us-military-commissary-refrigeration-outages-aug-2026 · generated 2026-10-23T07:54:34.359Z ## Status - Severity: unknown · status: live · patch: unpatched - Product: Defense Commissary Agency store refrigeration and its remote monitoring and control system (vendor not disclosed) - Started: 2026-08-26 - Affected: DeCA commissary refrigeration systems (controller vendor and model not disclosed) ## Follow this incident - RSS (one item per update): https://pwn.watch/i/us-military-commissary-refrigeration-outages-aug-2026/feed.xml - JSON Feed: https://pwn.watch/i/us-military-commissary-refrigeration-outages-aug-2026/feed.json - Full data (timeline, sources, posts, agentBrief): https://pwn.watch/i/us-military-commissary-refrigeration-outages-aug-2026.json - This file: https://pwn.watch/i/us-military-commissary-refrigeration-outages-aug-2026/llms.txt ## Updates (newest first) - 2026-10-13: After the French supermarket refrigeration attacks, Reuters notes they resemble the late-August disruptions at about a dozen US military commissaries. (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-13/french-supermarkets-hacked-causing-fires-and-food-loss/107258724) - 2026-09-30: DeCA says cooler outages at four commissaries in Germany and England are equipment failures unrelated to the stateside outages; no findings from the investigation have been announced. (https://www.stripes.com/theaters/europe/2026-09-30/freezer-outages-europe-commissaries-23013166.html) - 2026-09-01: Army CID's Cyber Field Office and Air Force OSI confirm active investigations, with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service in the lead; some stores reported their freezers went into defrost mode. (https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2026-09-01/army-cid-investigates-commissary-refrigerator-outages-22721718.html) - 2026-08-28: The Pentagon acknowledges a "possible refrigeration disruption at some Defense Commissary Agency commissaries" but won't say how many stores were hit or whether the outages are linked; Military Times also lists Holloman, Little Rock and Robins AFB. (https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2026/08/28/dod-confirms-refrigeration-disruption-at-military-commissaries/) - 2026-08-26: Commissaries at Fort Irwin, F.E. Warren AFB, Fort Huachuca, Naval Station Newport, Columbus AFB and Travis AFB report refrigeration outages and pull meat, dairy, produce and frozen food; NAS Lemoore also reportedly affected. (https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2026-08-28/refrigeration-outages-multiple-us-commissaries-22684428.html) ## Fix brief # Security brief: Refrigeration outages at up to a dozen US military commissaries, investigated by Army CID's Cyber Field Office (cause unconfirmed) Source: https://pwn.watch/i/us-military-commissary-refrigeration-outages-aug-2026 · status: live · severity: unknown · updated Oct 23, 2026, 07:53 UTC ## Patch status **UNPATCHED: no fixed release yet. Apply mitigations and watch for updates.** ## What it is Starting Aug 26, refrigeration at Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) stores on at least six US bases failed within days of each other, with some freezers going into defrost mode overnight and thousands of dollars of meat, dairy, produce and frozen food thrown out. Army CID's Cyber Field Office and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations confirmed investigations, with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service in the lead. The Pentagon only acknowledges a "possible refrigeration disruption" and no cause has been announced, so this is not a confirmed cyberattack; Reuters later noted it resembles the October attacks on French supermarket refrigeration controllers. Severity detail: Food losses at up to a dozen commissaries; cyber investigators involved but no cause, vendor or attacker disclosed - Product: Defense Commissary Agency store refrigeration and its remote monitoring and control system (vendor not disclosed) ## Affected versions - DeCA commissary refrigeration systems (controller vendor and model not disclosed) ## Check whether you're affected No generic command applies (the product is a hosted service, appliance or desktop app). Check the installed version in its admin UI / About screen and compare with the versions above. ## Fix No fixed version is listed. Follow the vendor advisory below. ## Mitigations The data marks this as unpatched. Until every affected component is fixed, apply the vendor mitigations from the advisories below (restrict network exposure of the affected service, disable the vulnerable feature if the advisory allows). ## Latest updates - Oct 13, 2026: After the French supermarket refrigeration attacks, Reuters notes they resemble the late-August disruptions at about a dozen US military commissaries. - Sep 30, 2026: DeCA says cooler outages at four commissaries in Germany and England are equipment failures unrelated to the stateside outages; no findings from the investigation have been announced. - Sep 1, 2026: Army CID's Cyber Field Office and Air Force OSI confirm active investigations, with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service in the lead; some stores reported their freezers went into defrost mode. - Aug 28, 2026: The Pentagon acknowledges a "possible refrigeration disruption at some Defense Commissary Agency commissaries" but won't say how many stores were hit or whether the outages are linked; Military Times also lists Holloman, Little Rock and Robins AFB. - Aug 26, 2026: Commissaries at Fort Irwin, F.E. Warren AFB, Fort Huachuca, Naval Station Newport, Columbus AFB and Travis AFB report refrigeration outages and pull meat, dairy, produce and frozen food; NAS Lemoore also reportedly affected. ## Write-ups & news - [Commissaries across the US affected by refrigeration outages](https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2026-08-28/refrigeration-outages-multiple-us-commissaries-22684428.html) - [DoD confirms 'refrigeration disruption' at military commissaries](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2026/08/28/dod-confirms-refrigeration-disruption-at-military-commissaries/) - [Army, Air Force special agents investigate refrigerator outages affecting several commissary stores](https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2026-09-01/army-cid-investigates-commissary-refrigerator-outages-22721718.html) - [Refrigeration failures affect 4 military commissaries in Europe](https://www.stripes.com/theaters/europe/2026-09-30/freezer-outages-europe-commissaries-23013166.html) - [When the Freezers Fail: What the DoD Commissary Incident Tells Us About OT Cyber Risk](https://www.redseal.net/when-the-freezers-fail-what-the-dod-commissary-incident-tells-us-about-ot-cyber-risk/) - [Hackers raise fridge temperatures at hundreds of French supermarkets to spoil food](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-13/french-supermarkets-hacked-causing-fires-and-food-loss/107258724) ## Caveats Not a confirmed cyberattack: no agency has said what caused the outages, and the involvement of Army CID's Cyber Field Office is the only official hint at a cyber angle. Store counts vary: six confirmed by the installations, up to a dozen per unverified sources, 14 across 10 states per independent trackers cited by RedSeal. Fort Huachuca said power had not gone out while its freezers entered defrost. RedSeal notes DeCA refrigeration runs on a Remote Monitoring Control System that controls defrost cycles, but there is no public evidence the affected stores used Danfoss or Copeland controllers or that known flaws were involved. Not linked to the French supermarket campaign by any authority. --- Machine-readable: https://pwn.watch/i/us-military-commissary-refrigeration-outages-aug-2026.json · all incidents: https://pwn.watch/incidents.json. Verify against the vendor advisory before changing production systems.