CVE-2025-0217 in Privileged Remote Access
Summary
by MITRE • 05/05/2025
BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access (PRA) versions prior to 25.1 are vulnerable to a local authentication bypass. A local authenticated attacker can view the connection details of a ShellJump session that was initiated with external tools, allowing unauthorized access to connected sessions.
Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/02/2025
BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access version 25.1 and earlier contains a critical local authentication bypass vulnerability that undermines the security posture of privileged access management systems. This vulnerability affects the ShellJump session functionality where external tools initiate connections to target systems, creating a scenario where local authenticated users can exploit insufficient access controls to view connection details of active sessions. The flaw resides in the session management component that fails to properly validate authentication contexts when external tools establish connections, allowing local users to bypass the intended authentication mechanisms that should restrict access to sensitive session information. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and specifically targets the privilege escalation and access control mechanisms within the PRA framework, creating a path for unauthorized information disclosure that could lead to further exploitation.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate session isolation and authentication state management within the ShellJump feature. When external tools establish connections through the PRA system, the authentication context is not properly enforced for local users who may have access to the underlying system. This creates a scenario where local authenticated attackers can leverage their existing privileges to access session metadata and connection details that should remain restricted to authorized administrators. The flaw manifests as a failure to maintain proper access control boundaries between local system users and remote session information, effectively creating a privilege escalation vector through information disclosure rather than direct code execution. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 Access Control Issues and represents a significant deviation from secure by default design principles that should govern privileged access management systems.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure to potentially enable more sophisticated attacks through session hijacking and credential harvesting. Local attackers who can view ShellJump session details may obtain sensitive connection parameters including target system credentials, network paths, and session identifiers that could be used to establish unauthorized access to privileged systems. This vulnerability particularly affects organizations that rely heavily on privileged access management for security controls, as it undermines the fundamental security assumption that session details remain protected from local users. The attack vector requires local authentication but does not necessarily require elevated privileges beyond what a standard user might possess, making it exploitable in scenarios where local system access is compromised through other means such as phishing attacks or credential theft. This aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 Valid Accounts and T1566 Phishing as the initial compromise may occur through social engineering or other vectors that grant local access.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including updating to BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access version 25.1 or later where the vulnerability has been addressed through enhanced session isolation and authentication validation. System administrators should conduct thorough access reviews to identify local users with unnecessary access to privileged systems and implement least privilege principles more rigorously. Network segmentation should be reinforced to limit local access to systems running PRA components, and monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual access patterns to session information. Security teams should also review their incident response procedures to ensure they can detect and respond to potential exploitation of this vulnerability. The fix implemented by BeyondTrust addresses the core authentication bypass by strengthening session context validation and ensuring proper access control enforcement when external tools initiate connections through the ShellJump functionality, thereby restoring the intended security boundaries within the privileged access management system.