CVE-2025-43586: Adobe Commerce Improper Access Control Vulnerability Leading to Privilege Escalation

Overview

The cybersecurity world is abuzz with the discovery of a new vulnerability found in several versions of Adobe Commerce, affecting a large number of e-commerce sites globally. This threat, identified as CVE-2025-43586, is a serious concern due to its potential for privilege escalation, a scenario where an attacker with minimal access rights can bypass security measures to gain unauthorized elevated access. The severity of this vulnerability and the potential for system compromise or data leakage necessitates immediate attention and remediation.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-43586
Severity: High (8.1 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

Adobe Commerce | 2.4.8, 2.4.7-p5, 2.4.6-p10, 2.4.5-p12, 2.4.4-p13 and earlier versions

How the Exploit Works

The vulnerability lies in the Improper Access Control mechanism within Adobe Commerce. An attacker, even with low-level privileges, can exploit this vulnerability by sending specially crafted requests to the system. These requests could potentially bypass the security protocols set up in the system, allowing the attacker to escalate their privileges. With elevated access, the attacker could then have the ability to manipulate data, alter system configurations, and even gain control of the entire system-all without requiring any user interaction.

Conceptual Example Code

Here’s a conceptual example of how an attacker might exploit this vulnerability. The specific details would depend on the system configuration and the attacker’s knowledge.

POST /admin/login HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{
"username": "low_privileged_user",
"password": "guessable_password",
"elevated_access": "true"
}

In this example, the attacker is attempting to log in to the system using a low-privileged user account. The `”elevated_access”: “true”` part of the request is the malicious payload that attempts to take advantage of the vulnerability, thereby granting the attacker elevated privileges.

Mitigation

Given the severity of this vulnerability, it is recommended that affected users apply the vendor patch as soon as it’s available. In the interim, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) could serve as a temporary mitigation measure, helping to detect and prevent potential exploit attempts. Users should also review their system configurations and user access policies, reducing privileges where possible and enforcing strong password policies to mitigate the risk of brute force attacks.