Overview

The cybersecurity landscape is constantly evolving with new threats and vulnerabilities emerging daily. One of the most recent vulnerabilities to come to light is CVE-2025-53120, a path traversal vulnerability in the unauthenticated upload functionality of the Unified PAM server. This vulnerability, if exploited, allows a malicious actor to upload binaries and scripts to the server’s configuration and web root directories, leading to remote code execution.
Due to the severity of the potential impact, this vulnerability is of significant concern for organizations using the Unified PAM server. The potential for system compromise or data leakage poses a significant risk to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive information.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-53120
Severity: Critical (9.4 CVSS)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

Unified PAM Server | All versions prior to patch

How the Exploit Works

The exploit takes advantage of a path traversal vulnerability in the unauthenticated upload functionality. By crafting a specific payload, an attacker is able to bypass the server’s directory restrictions. This allows the attacker to upload malicious binaries and scripts to the server’s configuration and web root directories, which are typically restricted areas. Once uploaded, these malicious files can be executed remotely, giving the attacker control over the server.

Conceptual Example Code

This conceptual example demonstrates a malicious HTTP POST request that could exploit the vulnerability:

POST /unauthenticated/upload HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/octet-stream
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="file"; filename="../../webroot/malicious_script.sh"
{ binary data }

In this example, the attacker uses a relative path (‘../../webroot/malicious_script.sh’) as the filename to traverse back to the web root directory. The server, failing to validate and sanitize the filename, saves the uploaded file to this location, effectively allowing the attacker to place and later execute a malicious script on the server.

Mitigation Guidance

It is strongly recommended that entities using the Unified PAM Server apply the latest vendor patch to mitigate this vulnerability. In the absence of a patch, entities can use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) as a temporary measure, configuring them to detect and block traffic patterns consistent with the exploitation of this vulnerability. However, these measures should be seen as temporary and complement the pending application of the vendor patch, which directly addresses and eliminates the vulnerability.
In addition, entities should review and strengthen their security controls around file uploads, including implementing input validation and sanitization routines that prevent directory traversal attacks. Regular security audits and penetration testing can also help uncover and mitigate such vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.