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FirewareOperating system · Watchguard

CVE-2022-25290

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-02-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.1.3 / 12.5.9 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
WatchGuard Firebox and XTM appliances allow an authenticated remote attacker with unprivileged credentials to retrieve certificate private keys. This vulnerability impacts Fireware OS before 12.7.2_U2, 12.x before 12.1.3_U8, and 12.2.x through 12.5.x before 12.5.9_U2.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

WatchGuard Firebox and XTM appliances contain an insecure direct object reference vulnerability allowing authenticated users with unprivileged credentials to retrieve certificate private keys that should require elevated privileges to access.

MitigationUpgrade Fireware OS to version 12.7.2_U2, 12.1.3_U8, or 12.5.9_U2 or later to remediate the vulnerability.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
FirewareOperating system
Affected:>= 12.0.0, < 12.1.3>= 12.2.0, < 12.5.9>= 12.7.0, < 12.7.2= 12.1.3= 12.5.9= 12.7.2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the Fireware OS version
    Log into the Firebox web UI and navigate to System > System Status, or run `fireware -v` via SSH/CLI to display the OS version
    Affected if The version displayed is >= 12.0.0 and < 12.1.3, OR >= 12.2.0 and < 12.5.9, OR >= 12.7.0 and < 12.7.2, OR exactly 12.1.3, 12.5.9, or 12.7.2
  2. Confirm the device model is Firebox or XTM
    Check the device model in the web UI under System > System Status or on the physical device label
    Affected if The device is a WatchGuard Firebox or XTM appliance running a vulnerable Fireware version from step 1
  3. Verify if certificate private keys exist
    Navigate to SSL VPN > Certificates or Network > Configuration > Certificates in the web UI to list configured certificates
    Affected if Any certificate with an associated private key is configured on the device and the Fireware version is vulnerable
  4. Check for unprivileged user accounts
    Navigate to Users and Contacts in the web UI to list defined user accounts, noting any non-admin accounts
    Affected if There are user accounts defined with standard or limited privileges (not full administrator)

You are affected if you run a WatchGuard Firebox or XTM appliance with Fireware version in the affected ranges and have both certificate private keys configured and user accounts defined on the device.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 12.1.3 / 12.5.9 / 12.7.2 or later
Fixed in 12.1.312.5.912.7.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Fireware OS to version 12.7.2_U2, 12.1.3_U8, or 12.5.9_U2 or later to remediate the vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

12.1.3_U8 (or later), 12.5.9_U2 (or later), or 12.7.2_U2 (or later) depending on your current branch

  1. Identify the current Fireware OS version running on the WatchGuard Firebox or XTM appliance via the web UI (Dashboard > System Status) or CLI (show version command)
  2. Determine which version branch you are on: 12.1.x, 12.2.x-12.5.x, or 12.7.x
  3. For Fireware 12.1.x (including 12.1.3): Download and install Fireware 12.1.3_U8 or later from the WatchGuard portal
  4. For Fireware 12.2.x through 12.5.x: Download and install Fireware 12.5.9_U2 or later
  5. For Fireware 12.7.x: Download and install Fireware 12.7.2_U2 or later
  6. After upgrade, verify the new version is running and confirm the certificate private key retrieval issue is resolved
  7. Review any post-upgrade configuration changes required by consulting WatchGuard release notes
Caveat Review WatchGuard release notes for any configuration or feature changes between your current version and the upgrade version; always backup configuration before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Fireware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,760
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-25290 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data