The primary ZF OUI, 80:56:3C, is registered to "ZF" at Ehlersstraße 50, Friedrichshafen, Germany — the corporate seat of ZF Friedrichshafen AG (the ZF Group, historically Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen), one of the world's largest automotive Tier-1 suppliers. The block is an MA-L (MAC Address Block Large, ~16.7 million addresses), so a globally-administered MAC under this prefix reliably identifies genuine ZF-built networked hardware. In practice that hardware is automotive embedded electronics: ECUs, connectivity and telematics units (ZF's ProConnect platform), ADAS controllers, sensors, and in-vehicle networking gear for passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Seeing an 80:56:3C address on a LAN strongly suggests an in-vehicle or workshop-connected ZF unit rather than office IT. Three other ZF-affiliated OUIs exist as separate registry entries and should not be conflated with this one: D0:ED:FF → "ZF CVCS" (ZF CV Systems Hannover, commercial-vehicle braking/telematics, formerly WABCO), 68:58:C5 → "ZF TRW Automotive" (Livonia, MI — safety systems/ECUs, from ZF's 2015 TRW acquisition), and 00:10:2A → "ZF MICROSYSTEMS, INC." (a legacy US entry in Palo Alto, historical and distinct from the modern ZF Friedrichshafen group). One security note worth carrying: CVE-2024-12054 (CVSS 5.4), an authentication bypass in ZF's Roll Stability Support Plus (RSSPlus) commercial-vehicle brake/stability ECU, documented in CISA ICS Advisory ICSA-25-021-03 — a reminder that a ZF MAC marks automotive ECU/telematics hardware that can be a pivot point in connected-vehicle threat models.
- IEEE assignment
- 80:56:3C → "ZF", registered Ehlersstraße 50, Friedrichshafen, BW, DE 88046 [Confirmed] — IEEE MA-L (enrichment/registries/oui.csv), corroborated maclookup.app/vendors/zf
- Registry / block size
- MA-L (24-bit OUI, ~16.7M addresses) [Confirmed] — IEEE oui.csv; maclookup.app/vendors/zf. NOTE: IEEE's public OUI data publishes NO assignment/registration date (oui.csv columns are only Registry, Assignment, Organization Name, Organization Address). maclookup.app shows "2022-05-31" but that is a third-party database artifact, not an IEEE fact — do not record it as an IEEE registration date.
- HQ / country
- Ehlersstraße 50, Friedrichshafen, BW 88046, DE (registry address = ZF corporate seat) [Confirmed] — IEEE MA-L, zf.com
- Company full name
- ZF Friedrichshafen AG (ZF Group; formerly Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen) [Confirmed] — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZF_Friedrichshafen
- Company status
- active [Confirmed] — zf.com
- Industry
- automotive Tier-1 supplier (passenger cars, commercial vehicles, rail, industrial); one of the largest globally [Confirmed] — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZF_Friedrichshafen
- Device types
- automotive embedded electronics — ECUs, connectivity/telematics modules (ProConnect), ADAS controllers, sensors, in-vehicle networking units [Confirmed] — press.zf.com, zf.com/products
- Networking / connectivity
- ProConnect platform supports LTE/5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5, C-V2X, DSRC, GNSS; embedded compute uses PCIe, Ethernet, CAN, LIN for sensor integration [Confirmed] — press.zf.com release_49026 / release_100548
- Related OUI entries (separate registrations, do NOT merge)
- D0:ED:FF "ZF CVCS" (ZF CV Systems Hannover, formerly WABCO, Hannover DE); 68:58:C5 "ZF TRW Automotive" (Livonia, MI US — from ZF's 2015 TRW acquisition); 00:10:2A "ZF MICROSYSTEMS, INC." (legacy, Palo Alto CA US — historical) [Confirmed] — IEEE oui.csv; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRW_Automotive
- Security context
- CVE-2024-12054 (CVSS 5.4) — authentication bypass in ZF RSSPlus 2M commercial-vehicle brake/stability ECU (builds Jan 2008–Jan 2023); adjacent RF / J2497 telematics pivot enabling unauthorized diagnostic calls; vehicle stays in safe state. CISA ICS Advisory ICSA-25-021-03. [Confirmed] — cisa.gov/.../icsa-25-021-03
- Allocated date
- Unknown — IEEE publishes no registration dates for OUI/MA-L assignments [Confirmed null]
- Analyst note
- An 80:56:3C globally-administered MAC identifies genuine ZF automotive hardware (in-vehicle or workshop-connected ECU/telematics), not office IT. A ZF MAC on a network is a candidate pivot point in connected-vehicle threat models.