Overview
CVE-2025-44963 is a major cybersecurity vulnerability affecting RUCKUS Network Director (RND) versions prior to 4.5. This flaw allows an attacker who knows a hardcoded secret key value to spoof an administrator JWT, effectively impersonating a system administrator. As system administrators have wide-ranging privileges, this vulnerability presents a severe security risk that could lead to potential system compromise or data leakage. Organizations using affected RND versions should immediately take steps to mitigate this threat.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-44963
Severity: Critical, CVSS score 9.0
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
RUCKUS Network Director | Versions prior to 4.5
How the Exploit Works
The exploit operates by leveraging a hardcoded secret key value within the RUCKUS Network Director software. An attacker with knowledge of this value can use it to spoof an administrator JWT, effectively gaining the same access and privileges as a system administrator. This could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands, alter system configurations, or access and exfiltrate sensitive data.
Conceptual Example Code
Below is a conceptual example of how this vulnerability might be exploited. This is a simplified example and actual exploitation could be more complex, potentially involving further steps or techniques.
POST /admin/auth HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{
"token": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiIxMjM0NTY3ODkwIiwibmFtZSI6IkFkbWluIiwiaWF0IjoxNTE2MjM5MDIyfQ.SflKxwRJSMeKKF2QT4fwpMeJf36POk6yJV_adQssw5c"
}In the above example, the attacker sends a POST request to the /admin/auth endpoint with a spoofed JWT token. This token claims the identity of an administrator, granting the attacker admin-level access if the system is vulnerable.
Mitigation Guidance
Users of RUCKUS Network Director should upgrade to version 4.5 or later immediately. If for some reason an immediate upgrade is not possible, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) could be used as temporary mitigation. However, these are not long-term solutions and could still leave systems vulnerable to other attack vectors. Therefore, applying the vendor patch remains the best solution to this issue.