CVE-2025-37124 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting Hewlett Packard Enterprise's Aruba Networking EdgeConnect SD-WAN Gateway, specifically versions 9.4.0.0 and 9.5.0.0. This vulnerability allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to bypass firewall protections implemented by the SD-WAN Gateway. The core issue relates to improper enforcement of firewall rules, enabling malicious actors to route harmful traffic through the internal network infrastructure. This can lead to unauthorized access to internal resources or disruption of critical network services. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-693, which pertains to protection mechanism failures, indicating a fundamental flaw in how the device enforces security policies. The CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.6 reflects a high severity, with an attack vector that is network-based (AV:N), requiring no privileges (PR:N) and no user interaction (UI:N). The impact affects confidentiality and integrity to a limited extent (C:L/I:L) but has a high impact on availability (A:H), suggesting potential denial-of-service or network disruption scenarios. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet, indicating that organizations should prioritize monitoring and mitigation efforts proactively. Given the critical role of SD-WAN gateways in managing and securing enterprise network traffic, this vulnerability poses a significant risk if exploited.

For European organizations, the exploitation of CVE-2025-37124 could have severe consequences. SD-WAN gateways like HPE Aruba EdgeConnect are widely deployed in enterprises to optimize and secure WAN traffic, often connecting multiple branch offices and cloud services. A successful attack could allow threat actors to bypass firewall protections, potentially enabling lateral movement within corporate networks, data exfiltration, or disruption of business-critical applications. This could impact sectors with high dependency on network availability and security, such as finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and government agencies. The disruption of availability could lead to operational downtime, financial losses, and reputational damage. Furthermore, unauthorized access could expose sensitive personal data, raising compliance risks under GDPR and other European data protection regulations. The lack of required authentication and user interaction increases the risk of automated exploitation attempts, emphasizing the need for immediate attention.

European organizations should implement the following specific mitigation strategies: 1) Immediate Inventory and Assessment: Identify all HPE Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Gateway devices running affected versions (9.4.0.0 and 9.5.0.0) within the network. 2) Network Segmentation: Isolate SD-WAN gateway management interfaces and restrict access to trusted administrative networks only, using strict ACLs and VPNs. 3) Firewall Rule Hardening: Review and tighten firewall policies on the SD-WAN gateways to minimize exposure and restrict traffic flows to only necessary protocols and endpoints. 4) Monitoring and Detection: Deploy network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) and monitor logs for unusual routing or traffic patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. 5) Vendor Coordination: Engage with HPE support channels to obtain patches or workarounds as soon as they become available and apply them promptly. 6) Incident Response Preparedness: Update incident response plans to include scenarios involving SD-WAN gateway compromise and conduct tabletop exercises. 7) Limit Exposure: Where feasible, temporarily disable or restrict external access to SD-WAN gateways until patches are applied. 8) Use of Network Access Control (NAC): Enforce strict device authentication and authorization policies to prevent unauthorized devices from connecting to internal networks.