Overview
In the expanding world of the Internet of Things (IoT), ensuring the security of these devices is of paramount importance. A new vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-57605, has been discovered in the AiKaan IoT Platform that allows authenticated users to bypass server-side authorization on department admin assignment APIs. This vulnerability essentially allows an authenticated user to assign themselves as administrators of other departments, thereby escalating their privileges and potentially resulting in unauthorized system compromise or data leakage.
This vulnerability is a serious concern for any organization utilizing the AiKaan IoT platform, particularly those with multiple departments and sensitive data. The severity of this vulnerability is highlighted by its CVSS Severity Score of 8.8, indicating it’s a high-risk vulnerability that should be addressed urgently.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-57605
Severity: High (CVSS: 8.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Unauthorized privilege escalation, potential system compromise, and data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
AiKaan IoT Platform | All versions prior to patch
How the Exploit Works
The exploit takes advantage of a lack of server-side authorization in the AiKaan IoT Platform. An authenticated user can send a specially crafted request to the department admin assignment APIs, assigning themselves as administrators of other departments. This allows them to elevate their privileges without the necessary authorization, potentially gaining access to sensitive data and systems.
Conceptual Example Code
To further grasp how this vulnerability may be exploited, consider the following conceptual HTTP request:
POST /api/v1/departments/{department_id}/admin HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Authorization: Bearer {user_token}
Content-Type: application/json
{ "user_id": "{attacker_user_id}" }In this example, an authenticated user (the attacker) uses their legitimate user token (`{user_token}`) to send a POST request to the department admin assignment API. They replace `{department_id}` with the ID of the department they wish to escalate their privileges in, and `{attacker_user_id}` with their own user ID. If successful, the server will return a 200 OK response, and the attacker will now have admin privileges for that department.
Mitigation Guidance
To mitigate the risks associated with this vulnerability, organizations are advised to apply the vendor-provided patch as soon as possible. Until the patch can be applied, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can be used as temporary mitigation to monitor and block suspicious activity.
