CVE-2025-4971 is a high-severity vulnerability identified in Broadcom's Automic Automation Agent for Unix systems, specifically affecting versions prior to 24.3.0 HF4 and 21.0.13 HF1. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-426, which pertains to an untrusted search path weakness. This security flaw allows low-privileged users who have execution rights on the Automic Automation Agent executable to escalate their privileges. The root cause lies in the way the agent handles the search path for executable files or libraries, potentially allowing an attacker to influence which binaries or scripts are executed by the agent. By exploiting this, an attacker can execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, thereby compromising system integrity and confidentiality. The CVSS 4.0 base score of 8.5 reflects a high severity, with the vector indicating that the attack requires local access (AV:L), low attack complexity (AC:L), no attacker privileges initially (PR:L), no user interaction (UI:N), and results in high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (VC:H/VI:H/VA:H). The scope is limited (SC:L), with low impact on system integrity and availability (SI:L/SA:L). No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, but the vulnerability's nature and impact make it a critical concern for affected environments. Since the vulnerability affects Unix versions of the agent, it is particularly relevant for organizations running automation workflows on Unix/Linux servers. The lack of published patches at the time of this report necessitates immediate attention to mitigation strategies.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-4971 could be significant, especially for those relying on Broadcom Automic Automation for critical business process automation. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized privilege escalation, enabling attackers to execute arbitrary commands with elevated rights. This could compromise sensitive data, disrupt automated workflows, and potentially lead to broader network compromise if the automation agent interacts with other systems. Given the high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts, organizations could face operational downtime, data breaches, and compliance violations under regulations such as GDPR. The vulnerability's local attack vector means that insider threats or attackers who have gained limited access could leverage this flaw to deepen their foothold. This risk is heightened in environments where automation agents run with elevated privileges or have access to sensitive systems. The absence of known exploits in the wild provides a window for proactive defense, but the high severity score underscores the urgency of addressing the vulnerability to prevent potential exploitation.

To mitigate CVE-2025-4971 effectively, European organizations should: 1) Immediately assess their environment to identify all instances of Broadcom Automic Automation Agent running on Unix systems and verify their versions against the affected versions (<24.3.0 HF4 and <21.0.13 HF1). 2) Apply vendor patches or hotfixes as soon as they become available; monitor Broadcom's official channels for updates. 3) Restrict execution permissions on the automation agent executable strictly to trusted administrators and service accounts to minimize the risk of local exploitation by low-privileged users. 4) Implement strict file system permissions and environment hardening to prevent unauthorized modification or insertion of malicious executables or libraries in the agent's search path. 5) Employ application whitelisting and integrity monitoring to detect unauthorized changes to the agent's binaries and related files. 6) Conduct regular audits and monitoring of user activities on systems running the agent to detect suspicious privilege escalation attempts. 7) Consider isolating the automation agent in dedicated environments or containers with minimal privileges and network access to limit potential lateral movement. 8) Educate system administrators and security teams about the vulnerability and the importance of least privilege principles in managing automation tools.