CVE-2025-32781 in Apollo
Summary
by MITRE • 07/15/2026
Apollo is a reliable configuration management system suitable for microservice configuration management scenarios. Prior to 2.5.0, Apollo Portal does not verify application and namespace permissions when an authenticated user requests a release by ID through GET /envs/{env}/releases/{releaseId} while configView.memberOnly.envs is enabled, allowing a low-privileged Portal user who obtains or guesses a valid releaseId to read configuration data from other applications and namespaces without calling UserPermissionValidator.shouldHideConfigToCurrentUser(...). This issue is fixed in version 2.5.0.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/15/2026
The vulnerability described represents a critical access control flaw in the Apollo configuration management system that affects versions prior to 2.5.0. This issue specifically targets the Apollo Portal component and manifests when the configView.memberOnly.envs configuration parameter is enabled, creating a scenario where unauthorized users can bypass permission checks to access sensitive configuration data from other applications and namespaces. The vulnerability stems from the absence of proper authentication verification during release retrieval operations through the GET /envs/{env}/releases/{releaseId} endpoint, which violates fundamental security principles of least privilege and access control enforcement.
The technical implementation flaw occurs within the Portal's permission validation logic where the UserPermissionValidator.shouldHideConfigToCurrentUser(...) method is not properly invoked when processing requests for specific release IDs. This creates a path where authenticated users can exploit knowledge of valid release identifiers to access configuration data that should be restricted based on their application and namespace permissions. The vulnerability essentially allows privilege escalation through information disclosure, enabling low-privileged users to gather sensitive configuration information from systems they should not have access to.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability poses significant security risks in microservice environments where configuration management is critical for system operation and security. Attackers who can obtain valid release IDs through reconnaissance or guessing can extract complete configuration data including database connection strings, API keys, secret tokens, and other sensitive parameters that may be used to compromise the entire system infrastructure. The vulnerability affects the confidentiality aspect of the CIA triad and can lead to cascading security incidents when exposed credentials are leveraged for further attacks.
The mitigation strategy involves upgrading to Apollo version 2.5.0 or later where proper permission validation has been implemented to ensure that UserPermissionValidator.shouldHideConfigToCurrentUser(...) is correctly invoked before allowing access to release data. Organizations should also implement additional controls such as rate limiting on configuration endpoints, enhanced monitoring of access patterns, and regular auditing of release ID generation to prevent unauthorized enumeration. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and can be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1566 (Phishing) when used as an initial access vector, or T1071.004 (Application Layer Protocol: DNS) if attackers use DNS reconnaissance to identify valid release identifiers.
Security teams should conduct immediate risk assessment of their Apollo deployments to identify systems running vulnerable versions and implement comprehensive monitoring for unauthorized access attempts to configuration data. The fix demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and authentication enforcement in distributed system components, particularly those handling sensitive operational data that governs the behavior of multiple services within a microservice architecture.