CVE-2025-0358: Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in VAPIX Device Configuration Framework

Overview

The cybersecurity landscape is an ever-evolving battlefield where new threats emerge and existing ones evolve on a daily basis. One such threat that has come to light is the CVE-2025-0358 vulnerability. This vulnerability was discovered during an annual penetration test conducted by Truesec on behalf of Axis Communication. The flaw was identified in the VAPIX Device Configuration framework, and it allows a lower-privileged user to gain administrator privileges, posing a serious security risk to any system or network utilizing this framework. It is crucial for cybersecurity professionals and system administrators to understand the scope of this vulnerability and implement necessary measures to mitigate its potential impact.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-0358
Severity: High (CVSS: 8.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise and potential data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

VAPIX Device Configuration Framework | All versions up to latest

How the Exploit Works

The exploitation process of this vulnerability involves a lower-privileged user sending a specially crafted request to the VAPIX Device Configuration framework. Due to the flaw in the system, it fails to adequately verify the user’s access level and processes the request as if it were from an administrator. This allows the attacker to change system configurations, gain unauthorized access to sensitive data, and potentially take over the entire system.

Conceptual Example Code

Here’s a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. This could be a sample HTTP request, where the attacker sends a malicious payload to a vulnerable endpoint:

POST /vulnerable/endpoint HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{ "user_role": "admin", "action": "modify", "target": "system_config", "data": { "new_config_data": "..." }}

In the above example, the attacker is posing as an admin (“user_role”: “admin”) and is requesting to modify the system configuration (“action”: “modify”, “target”: “system_config”). The “new_config_data” contains the attacker’s desired settings.

Mitigation Guidance

To mitigate the risks associated with the CVE-2025-0358 vulnerability, users should apply the vendor patch as soon as it becomes available. Until the patch is released and applied, it is recommended to use a web application firewall (WAF) or an intrusion detection system (IDS) as temporary mitigation. These systems can detect and block malicious requests, providing some level of protection against this exploit. However, they do not address the root cause of the vulnerability and are thus not a permanent solution.