CVE-2025-20300 in Splunk
Summary
by MITRE • 07/07/2025
In Splunk Enterprise versions below 9.4.2, 9.3.5, 9.2.6, and 9.1.9 and Splunk Cloud Platform versions below 9.3.2411.103, 9.3.2408.112, and 9.2.2406.119, a low-privileged user that does not hold the "admin" or "power" Splunk roles, and has read-only access to a specific alert, could suppress that alert when it triggers. See [Define alert suppression groups to throttle sets of similar alerts](https://help.splunk.com/en/splunk-enterprise/alert-and-respond/alerting-manual/9.4/manage-alert-trigger-conditions-and-throttling/define-alert-suppression-groups-to-throttle-sets-of-similar-alerts).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/21/2025
This vulnerability exists within Splunk Enterprise and Splunk Cloud Platform versions prior to specific patch releases, creating a privilege escalation risk through alert suppression capabilities. The flaw allows users with read-only access to particular alerts to suppress those alerts when they trigger, despite not possessing administrative or power roles that would normally grant such permissions. This represents a significant security oversight in Splunk's access control mechanisms, as it enables low-privileged users to manipulate alerting behavior in ways that could mask critical security events or operational issues.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate authorization checks within Splunk's alert suppression functionality. When users with read-only permissions attempt to suppress alerts through the alert suppression groups feature, the system fails to properly validate whether the user possesses sufficient privileges to perform this action. This misconfiguration creates a path for privilege escalation where users can effectively disable monitoring for specific alerts they should not have the ability to suppress. The vulnerability specifically impacts the alert throttling and suppression mechanisms that are designed to manage alert volume and reduce noise in security operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial for organizations relying on Splunk for security monitoring and incident response. Low-privileged users could suppress critical alerts that might indicate security breaches, system failures, or compliance violations, potentially allowing malicious activities to go undetected while normal operational alerts are silenced. This capability undermines the integrity of the alerting system and could lead to delayed incident response times, increased risk exposure, and potential compliance violations. The suppression of alerts could be particularly damaging in environments where Splunk serves as a primary security monitoring platform, as it directly affects the visibility of security events.
Organizations should immediately implement the available patches for Splunk Enterprise and Splunk Cloud Platform versions mentioned in the advisory, with particular attention to upgrading to versions 9.4.2, 9.3.5, 9.2.6, and 9.1.9 for enterprise installations, and the corresponding cloud platform versions. Administrators should also review existing alert suppression configurations and user permissions to ensure that only authorized personnel can modify alert suppression groups. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 Access Control Issues and maps to ATT&CK technique T1566 Credential Access through privilege escalation pathways. Organizations should conduct thorough audits of their Splunk environments to identify any unauthorized alert suppression configurations and implement proper monitoring for unusual suppression activities that might indicate exploitation attempts.