{"id":81724,"date":"2025-10-04T21:29:50","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T21:29:50","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-10-21T14:51:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T20:51:56","slug":"cve-2025-41251-unveiling-vmware-nsx-s-weak-password-recovery-mechanism-vulnerability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-41251-unveiling-vmware-nsx-s-weak-password-recovery-mechanism-vulnerability\/","title":{"rendered":"CVE-2025-41251: Unveiling VMware NSX’s Weak Password Recovery Mechanism Vulnerability<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

In today’s digital landscape, cybersecurity has become a top priority for businesses and organizations. A single vulnerability can open the door to catastrophic data breaches and system compromises. This blog post delves into one such vulnerability, CVE-2025-41251, a critical weakness found within VMware NSX’s password recovery mechanism<\/a>. This vulnerability threatens numerous versions of VMware NSX and VMware Cloud Foundation, and if unaddressed, could lead to potential system<\/a> compromise or data leakage. With a CVSS Severity Score of 8.1, this vulnerability is one that cannot be overlooked.<\/p>\n

Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

CVE ID: CVE-2025-41251
\nSeverity: Important, CVSSv3: 8.1 (High)
\nAttack Vector: Remote, unauthenticated
\nPrivileges Required: None
\nUser Interaction: None
\nImpact: Username enumeration leading to credential brute force risk, potential system<\/a> compromise or data leakage.<\/p>\n

Affected Products<\/strong><\/p>\n

Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n

VMware NSX | 9.x.x.x, 4.2.x, 4.1.x, 4.0.x
\nNSX-T | 3.x
\nVMware Cloud Foundation (with NSX) | 5.x, 4.5.x<\/p>\n

How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n

The vulnerability lies within the password<\/a> recovery mechanism of VMware’s NSX product. An unauthenticated attacker could exploit this vulnerability to enumerate valid usernames potentially<\/a>. This enumeration process could then help facilitate a brute-force attack by trying combinations of usernames and passwords<\/a> until the correct one is found. Given that the attack can be carried out remotely, it significantly increases the risk associated with this vulnerability<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p>\n

A conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited could be a crafted HTTP request to the password recovery<\/a> endpoint. An example would look like this:<\/p>\n

GET \/password_recovery HTTP\/1.1\nHost: target.example.com\n{ \"username\": \"admin\" }<\/code><\/pre>\n
This request would return a response that could inadvertently reveal whether the username “admin” is valid or not, thereby enabling username enumeration.<\/p>\n
Impact Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n
If successfully exploited, CVE-2025-41251 could lead to a severe security breach. The malicious actor could potentially gain unauthorized access<\/a> to the system, leading to system compromise or data leakage.<\/p>\n
Mitigation Guidance<\/strong><\/p>\n
Given the severity of the vulnerability<\/a>, users are advised to apply the vendor patch immediately. VMware has released fixed versions for the affected products: NSX 9.0.1.0, 4.2.2.2\/4.2.3.1, 4.1.2.7; NSX-T 3.2.4.3; and a CCF async patch (KB88287). In scenarios where immediate patching is not possible, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) could serve as temporary mitigation. However, these should not be considered long-term solutions as they do not address the root cause of the vulnerability<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Acknowledgments<\/strong><\/p>\n
This vulnerability was reported by the National Security<\/a> Agency, highlighting the importance of collaborative efforts in enhancing cybersecurity across the board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Overview In today’s digital landscape, cybersecurity has become a top priority for businesses and organizations. A single vulnerability can open the door to catastrophic data breaches and system compromises. This blog post delves into one such vulnerability, CVE-2025-41251, a critical weakness found within VMware NSX’s password recovery mechanism. This vulnerability threatens numerous versions of VMware […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[93],"product":[],"attack_vector":[],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-81724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","vendor-vmware"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t