Overview
CVE-2025-27845 is a critical security vulnerability that affects ESPEC North America Web Controller 3 versions before 3.3.4. The vulnerability stems from an invalid authentication request to the /api/v4/auth/ endpoint, which leads to the exposure of a JSON Web Token (JWT) secret. This flaw can grant malicious actors elevated permissions to the user interface of the affected system. Given the ubiquity of the ESPEC North America Web Controller in numerous industries, this vulnerability has the potential to affect a broad range of systems, potentially leading to significant data leakage or even full system compromise.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-27845
Severity: Critical, CVSS score of 9.8
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Exposure of sensitive information, potential system compromise
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
ESPEC North America Web Controller | Versions before 3.3.4
How the Exploit Works
The exploit hinges on the improper handling of invalid authentication requests in the /api/v4/auth/ endpoint of the ESPEC North America Web Controller. A malformed or invalid request, instead of being rejected or ignored, triggers the exposure of a JWT secret. This secret can then be used by an attacker to gain elevated permissions to the user interface, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive data or control over the system itself.
Conceptual Example Code
Here’s a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited using a malicious HTTP request:
POST /api/v4/auth/ HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{ "username": "invalid", "password": "invalid" }In this example, the attacker sends an invalid authentication request to the /api/v4/auth/ endpoint. The application responds by unintentionally exposing the JWT secret, which can then be used to gain elevated permissions.
Mitigation
The most effective way to mitigate this vulnerability is to apply the vendor patch, which corrects the improper handling of invalid authentication requests. If a patch cannot be immediately applied, temporary mitigation can be achieved through the use of a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) configured to detect and block invalid authentication attempts to the /api/v4/auth/ endpoint.