CVE-2025-47849 is a critical privilege escalation vulnerability affecting Apache CloudStack versions 4.10.0.0 through 4.20.0.0. The vulnerability arises from improper privilege management (CWE-269) where a Domain Admin user in the ROOT domain can retrieve API keys and secret keys of Admin role users within the same domain. This occurs because the system does not properly restrict operations based on role hierarchy or privilege equivalence, allowing a lower-privileged Domain Admin to assume the identity and privileges of higher-level Admin users. This unauthorized access enables the attacker to invoke sensitive APIs and manipulate cloud resources, potentially compromising the confidentiality and integrity of data, causing data loss, and impacting the availability of cloud infrastructure managed by CloudStack. The flaw is due to insufficient validation of the caller's role relative to the target user's role and inadequate privilege checks. Apache addressed the issue by implementing strict validation ensuring the caller's role is equal or higher than the target user's role, requiring the caller to possess all privileges of the target user, and introducing two new domain-level configuration settings to restrict operations on users of the same role type and within the same account. These mitigations are included in Apache CloudStack versions 4.19.3.0 and 4.20.1.0. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.8 (high severity), reflecting its network exploitability, low attack complexity, and significant impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. No public exploits have been reported yet, but the potential for damage is substantial given the elevated privileges that can be gained.

The impact of CVE-2025-47849 is significant for organizations using Apache CloudStack in affected versions. Successful exploitation allows a malicious Domain Admin to escalate privileges and impersonate Admin users, gaining unrestricted access to sensitive APIs and cloud resources. This can lead to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion, resulting in data breaches and loss of data integrity. Additionally, attackers could disrupt cloud services causing denial of service, impacting business continuity and availability of critical infrastructure. The compromise of API keys and secret keys also increases the risk of lateral movement within the cloud environment and persistent unauthorized access. Organizations relying on CloudStack for managing multi-tenant cloud infrastructure face elevated risks of insider threats and privilege abuse. The vulnerability undermines trust in role-based access controls and could facilitate further attacks on cloud environments, affecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability of managed resources.

To mitigate CVE-2025-47849, organizations should immediately upgrade Apache CloudStack to versions 4.19.3.0 or 4.20.1.0, which contain the necessary security fixes. Beyond upgrading, administrators should audit and restrict Domain Admin privileges, minimizing the number of users with such roles. Implement strict role separation policies and monitor API key usage for anomalies. Configure the new domain-level settings introduced by Apache to limit operations on accounts of the same role type and within the same account, reducing the attack surface. Regularly review and enforce the principle of least privilege for all user roles. Employ comprehensive logging and alerting on privilege escalation attempts and API key access. Conduct penetration testing and security assessments focused on role-based access controls within CloudStack environments. Finally, maintain up-to-date backups and incident response plans to quickly recover from potential compromises.