CVE-2025-37155 is a vulnerability identified in the SSH restricted shell interface of Hewlett Packard Enterprise's Aruba Networking AOS-CX operating system, versions 10.10.0000 through 10.16.0000. The issue stems from improper access control mechanisms that fail to enforce privilege boundaries correctly for authenticated read-only users. Specifically, an attacker who already has authenticated read-only access to the SSH interface can exploit this flaw to escalate their privileges to administrator level without requiring additional user interaction. The vulnerability affects the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the network devices by potentially allowing unauthorized configuration changes, interception or manipulation of network traffic, and disruption of network services. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.8, indicating high severity, with metrics showing low attack complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and full impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Although no known exploits have been reported in the wild, the vulnerability presents a significant risk due to the critical role of AOS-CX devices in enterprise and service provider networks. The flaw highlights a weakness in the SSH restricted shell implementation, which is intended to limit user capabilities but fails to do so effectively, thereby undermining the security model of network management access. This vulnerability necessitates urgent attention from network administrators to prevent potential unauthorized administrative control over network infrastructure.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-37155 can be severe. Aruba AOS-CX switches are widely deployed in enterprise, government, and critical infrastructure networks across Europe. Unauthorized administrative access could lead to full compromise of network devices, enabling attackers to alter configurations, disrupt network operations, intercept sensitive data, or create persistent backdoors. This could affect data confidentiality, network integrity, and availability of critical services. Organizations in sectors such as finance, telecommunications, energy, and public administration are particularly at risk due to their reliance on secure and stable network infrastructure. The vulnerability could facilitate lateral movement within networks, escalation of privileges, and potentially enable broader cyber espionage or sabotage campaigns. Given the low complexity of exploitation and lack of required user interaction, even insider threats or compromised low-privilege accounts pose a significant risk. The absence of known exploits in the wild currently provides a window for proactive mitigation, but the potential impact remains high if exploited.

1. Apply patches or firmware updates from Hewlett Packard Enterprise as soon as they are released to address CVE-2025-37155. 2. Until patches are available, restrict SSH access to AOS-CX devices to trusted management networks and limit the number of users with read-only SSH access. 3. Implement strict network segmentation to isolate management interfaces from general user networks. 4. Monitor SSH login attempts and privilege escalation activities closely using centralized logging and SIEM solutions to detect anomalous behavior. 5. Enforce strong authentication mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all administrative and read-only access to network devices. 6. Review and minimize the assignment of read-only privileges to only essential personnel to reduce the attack surface. 7. Conduct regular security audits and penetration tests focusing on network device access controls. 8. Educate network administrators about the risks of privilege escalation vulnerabilities and the importance of timely patching and monitoring.