French blood banks were affected by a cyber attack targeting a third-party refrigeration equipment provider, causing temperatures to soar to “dangerously high levels” in the latest wave of attacks on European cold storage systems.
“Several regional facilities of the French Blood Establishment (EFS) were affected by a cybersecurity incident that impacted certain cold storage room monitoring and control systems,” the blood collection service stated.
The incident caused temperatures to rise to boiling temperatures of 110 degrees Celsius instead of the normal operating temperature of -30 degrees Celsius, putting blood and plasma supplies at risk of degradation.
EFS said the November 2, 2026, incident affected three blood storage facilities, though the service was not directly targeted. France’s Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region was among the most affected areas.
Cyber attack hits France’s blood banks
According to a statement posted on its website, the national blood service said its monitoring and control systems enabled it to respond promptly and prevent tampering with its blood supplies. It also transferred the samples to other blood banks as a precaution.
“Monitoring and alarm systems quickly detected the anomalies, allowing staff to take action to ensure that no blood products or samples were compromised,” it said.
While EFS has not named the affected cold storage supplier, European refrigeration provider Coolworld Rentals has disclosed that several of its storage units were affected.
“Only a limited number of Coolworld units were affected, and Coolworld responded promptly and took appropriate measures.”
The refrigeration provider says the cyber attack affected a third-party storage component it uses to manage its customers’ products.
Some of the affected blood banks used an obsolete Danfoss refrigeration component or Copeland/Dixell XWEB controllers affected by a high-severity (CVSS 8.2) authentication bypass vulnerability (CVE-2025-41450) and an improper authentication security flaw (CVE-2025-41451), respectively.
“The vulnerability currently being reported in the media relates to a component from a third-party supplier and was outside Coolworld’s direct control,” the company stated.
So far, no cyber actor has claimed responsibility for the cyber attack on French blood banks. However, France has formally attributed the attack to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“I am able to confirm that responsibility for this act lies with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” said Jean-Noël Barrot, the French foreign minister.
In October 2026, Vincent Strubel, Director General of ANSSI, also told a French Senate hearing that the ongoing wave of cyber attacks on cold storage units could affect the healthcare system.
“We are watching cold chain sabotage escalate from commercial retail disruption into a cruel assault on essential lifelines, including medical blood banks,” said Jamie Moles, Senior Technical Manager, ExtraHop. “Just like the earlier supermarket hacks where temperatures were forced into continuous heating cycles, these medical and commercial refrigeration systems in France have been taken offline or remotely overridden, affecting public health, cracking supply chains, and resulting in severe disruptions.”
Cyber attack had no health impact
The European cold storage service provider says the cyber attack resulted in no blood losses or health impact.
“No health impact has been identified, and no loss of blood products has been reported,” Coolworld said.
Meanwhile, the French national blood service is working with relevant authorities, including the national cybersecurity agency (ANSSI) and the Ministry of Health, to ensure that blood banks continue to operate normally.
Additionally, EFS has implemented additional measures to monitor and control temperature in its cold storage units. The health ministry has also launched an investigation to determine the source of the cyber attack.
