Splunk Universal Forwarder up to 9.1.8/9.2.5/9.3.3/9.4.1 on Windows SplunkUniversalForwarder permission assignment

CVSS Meta Temp Score
CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.
Current Exploit Price (≈)
Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.
CTI Interest Score
Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
7.4$0-$5k1.57

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Splunk Universal Forwarder up to 9.1.8/9.2.5/9.3.3/9.4.1 on Windows and classified as critical. Affected is an unknown function of the file C:\Program Files\SplunkUniversalForwarder. The manipulation leads to permission assignment. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2025-20298. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Splunk Universal Forwarder up to 9.1.8/9.2.5/9.3.3/9.4.1 on Windows. It has been rated as critical. This issue affects an unknown part of the file C:\Program Files\SplunkUniversalForwarder. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a permission assignment vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-732. The product specifies permissions for a security-critical resource in a way that allows that resource to be read or modified by unintended actors. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In Universal Forwarder for Windows versions below 9.4.2, 9.3.4, 9.2.6, and 9.1.9, a new installation of or an upgrade to an affected version can result in incorrect permissions assignment in the Universal Forwarder for Windows Installation directory (by default, C:\Program Files\SplunkUniversalForwarder). This lets non-administrator users on the machine access the directory and all its contents.

It is possible to read the advisory at advisory.splunk.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-20298 since 10/10/2024. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. Additional levels of successful authentication are needed for exploitation. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 237829 (Splunk Universal Forwarder 9.1 < 9.1.9, 9.2 < 9.2.6, 9.3 < 9.3.4, 9.4 < 9.4.2 (SVD-2025-0602)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 9.1.9, 9.2.6, 9.3.4 or 9.4.2 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (237829) and EUVD (EUVD-2025-16672). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.6
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.4

VulDB Base Score: 7.2
VulDB Temp Score: 6.9
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CNA Base Score: 8.0
CNA Vector (cisco): 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Permission assignment
CWE: CWE-732 / CWE-275 / CWE-266
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Nessus ID: 237829
Nessus Name: Splunk Universal Forwarder 9.1 < 9.1.9, 9.2 < 9.2.6, 9.3 < 9.3.4, 9.4 < 9.4.2 (SVD-2025-0602)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Upgrade: Universal Forwarder 9.1.9/9.2.6/9.3.4/9.4.2

Timelineinfo

10/10/2024 🔍
06/02/2025 +235 days 🔍
06/02/2025 +0 days 🔍
08/04/2025 +63 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Advisory: SVD-2025-0602
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2025-20298 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-20298
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-310859
EUVD: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 06/02/2025 20:25
Updated: 08/04/2025 20:54
Changes: 06/02/2025 20:25 (66), 06/03/2025 00:44 (1), 06/06/2025 04:31 (2), 08/04/2025 20:54 (1)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Want to stay up to date on a daily basis?

Enable the mail alert feature now!