CVE-2025-42978VulnerabilityPublished 8 Jul 2025

CVE-2025-42978: SAP NetWeaver Application Server Java · Improper Verification of Source of a Communication Channel

Affects SAP NetWeaver Application Server JavaSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 3.5 Low.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

3.5Low

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

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 3% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
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: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
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 8 Jul 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
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: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

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 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

AI-suggested

European organizations should implement the following specific mitigation steps: 1) Monitor SAP’s official security advisories closely for patches or updates addressing CVE-2025-42978 and apply them promptly once available. 2) Review and harden TLS configuration on SAP NetWeaver Application Server Java instances, ensuring strict hostname verification is enforced where possible, potentially by customizing or extending the TLS client implementation to reject wildcard certificates that do not precisely match the intended hostname. 3) Implement network-level controls such as TLS interception proxies with strict certificate validation policies to detect and block suspicious outbound TLS connections that do not match expected hostnames or certificates. 4) Conduct internal audits of outbound TLS connections from SAP NetWeaver servers to identify unusual or unauthorized destinations. 5) Educate privileged users about the risks of this vulnerability and the importance of cautious interaction with SAP systems, minimizing unnecessary user interaction that could trigger exploitation. 6) Employ network segmentation and zero-trust principles to limit the exposure of SAP servers to untrusted networks and reduce the attack surface. 7) Utilize endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools to monitor for anomalous network activity indicative of MITM or rogue server connections.

Description

The widely used component that establishes outbound TLS connections in SAP NetWeaver Application Server Java does not reliably match the hostname that is used for the connection against the wildcard hostname defined in the received certificate of remote TLS server. This might lead to the outbound connection being established to a possibly malicious remote TLS server and hence disclose information. Integrity and Availability are not impacted.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily related to confidentiality breaches. Since SAP NetWeaver is extensively deployed across various industries including manufacturing, finance, and public sector entities in Europe, any interception of outbound TLS communications could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive business data or personally identifiable information (PII). Although integrity and availability are not affected, the leakage of confidential data could have regulatory consequences under GDPR and other data protection laws prevalent in Europe. The risk is heightened in scenarios where SAP NetWeaver servers communicate with external partners or cloud services over TLS, as attackers could exploit this vulnerability to intercept or redirect sensitive data flows. The requirement for privileges and user interaction limits the ease of exploitation but does not eliminate the threat, especially in complex enterprise environments where multiple users and services interact. The absence of known exploits suggests the vulnerability is not yet actively targeted, but the potential impact on confidentiality means organizations should prioritize mitigation to prevent future exploitation.

CWE-940Improper Verification of Source of a Communication Channel (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A07:2025: Authentication Failures (opens in a new tab)
The product establishes a communication channel to handle an incoming request that has been initiated by an actor, but it does not properly verify that the request is coming from the expected origin.
Architecture and Design
Use a mechanism that can validate the identity of the source, such as a certificate, and validate the integrity of data to ensure that it cannot be modified in transit using an Adversary-in-the-Middle (AITM) attack.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
OWASP Authentication (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.14.1 (opens in a new tab)
V14.5.2 (opens in a new tab)
V14.5.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
WebView Injection (opens in a new tab)
Connection Reset (opens in a new tab)
TCP RST Injection (opens in a new tab)
Traffic Injection (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

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 8 Jul 2025, 00:56 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-940

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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