VulnerabilityPublished 10 Jun 2025

CVE-2025-27505: geoserver · Missing Authorization

Affects geoserverSource CVE Database V5

Exposed hosts seen by OffSeq Mirage · public detection template (Nuclei) · CVSS 5.3 Medium : upgrade to 2.25.6 when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.3Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 1.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 66% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 2.25.6

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 10 Jun 2025
Detectable: evidence found.
nuclei template: GeoServer - Missing Authorization on REST API Index
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: evidence found.
1 exposed host found; no attack traffic recorded

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), OffSeq Mirage (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade org.geoserver/geoserver to 2.25.6.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Mavenorg.geoserver/geoserver`pkg:maven/org.geoserver/geoserver`Other threats	Affected <2.25.6	Fixed in 2.25.6

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should promptly upgrade GeoServer to versions 2.25.6 or 2.26.3 or later, where the issue is fully resolved. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, apply the recommended workaround by editing the ${GEOSERVER_DATA_DIR}/security/config.xml file to modify the REST and GWC filter paths to include patterns such as /rest.* and /rest/**, and /gwc/rest.* and /gwc/rest/** respectively. After making these changes, restart the GeoServer service to apply the new security filters. Additionally, organizations should audit their GeoServer deployments to identify any unauthorized access attempts or unusual activity around the REST API endpoints. Implement network-level access controls to restrict access to GeoServer management interfaces to trusted IP ranges. Monitoring and logging REST API access can help detect exploitation attempts early. Finally, ensure that GeoServer instances are not unnecessarily exposed to the public internet and are protected behind firewalls or VPNs where possible.

Description

GeoServer is an open source server that allows users to share and edit geospatial data. It is possible to bypass the default REST API security and access the index page. The REST API security handles rest and its subpaths but not rest with an extension (e.g., rest.html). The REST API index can disclose whether certain extensions are installed. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.26.3 and 2.25.6. As a workaround, in ${GEOSERVER_DATA_DIR}/security/config.xml, change the paths for the rest filter to /rest.*,/rest/** and change the paths for the gwc filter to /gwc/rest.*,/gwc/rest/** and restart GeoServer.

Impact

For European organizations using GeoServer to manage and serve geospatial data, this vulnerability poses a moderate risk. GeoServer is often used by government agencies, urban planners, environmental organizations, and utilities to share sensitive geospatial information. Although the vulnerability does not allow direct data modification or deletion, unauthorized access to the REST API index page can reveal information about installed extensions and potentially expose system configuration details. This information leakage can facilitate further reconnaissance and targeted attacks, increasing the risk of subsequent exploitation. In sectors where geospatial data confidentiality is critical—such as defense, critical infrastructure, and urban planning—this could lead to privacy violations or intelligence gathering by malicious actors. Since exploitation requires no authentication or user interaction and can be performed remotely, the attack surface is broad. However, the lack of direct data integrity or availability impact limits the severity. Organizations relying on vulnerable GeoServer versions should consider the potential for indirect impacts, including reputational damage and compliance issues related to data protection regulations like GDPR if sensitive information is exposed.

CWE-862Missing Authorization (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #4OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.
Architecture and Design
Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries.
Architecture and Design
Ensure that access control checks are performed related to the business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that are applied to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
V7.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Exploitation of Thunderbolt Protection Flaws (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 11 Jul 2025, 20:47 UTC

Public exploits and detectiona Nuclei detection template

WeaknessesCWE-862

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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