CVE-2025-0604 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability discovered in Keycloak, an open-source identity and access management solution widely used for single sign-on and identity federation. The flaw arises during the password reset process for users authenticated via Active Directory (AD). Normally, when a user resets their password, the system should perform an LDAP bind operation to validate the new credentials against the AD server, ensuring that the password change is legitimate and that the user's account status (e.g., active, expired, or disabled) is respected. However, due to this vulnerability, Keycloak updates the password without performing the LDAP bind validation. This omission allows users whose AD accounts are expired or disabled to reset their passwords and regain access through Keycloak, effectively bypassing AD account restrictions. The vulnerability requires some level of privileges (PR:L) but does not require user interaction (UI:N) and can be exploited remotely (AV:N). The impact affects confidentiality and integrity by allowing unauthorized access but does not affect availability. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 5.4, reflecting a medium severity level. This flaw could be exploited in environments where Keycloak is integrated with AD for authentication, potentially allowing unauthorized users to circumvent organizational access controls and gain access to protected resources.

For European organizations, especially those relying on Keycloak integrated with Active Directory for identity management, this vulnerability poses a significant risk. Unauthorized access through expired or disabled AD accounts could lead to data breaches, unauthorized data access, and potential lateral movement within corporate networks. This is particularly critical for sectors with stringent data protection requirements such as finance, healthcare, and government institutions. The bypass of AD restrictions undermines the trust in centralized identity management and could facilitate insider threats or exploitation by attackers who gain access to dormant or disabled accounts. Given the widespread adoption of Keycloak in enterprise environments across Europe, the vulnerability could impact confidentiality and integrity of sensitive information, potentially leading to regulatory non-compliance under GDPR if personal data is exposed or mishandled.

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should immediately review and update their Keycloak deployments to the latest patched versions once available. In the interim, organizations should implement additional verification steps for password resets, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) enforcement during password changes, and monitor password reset activities for anomalies. Restrict password reset permissions to trusted users only and audit AD account statuses regularly to ensure expired or disabled accounts are not inadvertently reactivated. Network segmentation and strict access controls around Keycloak and AD servers can limit the impact of potential exploitation. Additionally, organizations should consider integrating external identity governance solutions that enforce policy compliance on account states before allowing password resets. Logging and alerting on password reset events should be enhanced to detect suspicious activities promptly.