dbcve.org
FirewareOperating system · Watchguard

CVE-2025-0178

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.5.13 / 12.11.1 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
An Improper Input Validation vulnerability in WatchGuard Fireware OS allows an attacker with network access to manipulate the value of the HTTP Host header in requests sent to the Web UI. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to redirect users to malicious websites, poison the web cache, or inject malicious JavaScript into responses sent by the Web UI.

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

Improper Input Validation in WatchGuard Fireware OS Web UI allows manipulation of the HTTP Host header. Attackers can exploit this to redirect users to malicious sites, poison web caches, or inject malicious JavaScript into Web UI responses.

MitigationUpdate Fireware OS to a version beyond 12.11 once available, or implement WAF rules to validate and sanitize HTTP Host header values before reaching the Web UI.

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, < 12.11.1>= 12.5, < 12.5.13

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
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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 WatchGuard device Web UI or CLI and navigate to System Status or use the 'fwctrl -v' command to display the firmware version
    Affected if the displayed version falls within 12.0.0 to 12.11.0, or 12.5.0 to 12.5.12
  2. Confirm the Web UI is enabled
    Check the Firebox configuration for Web UI service status via Web UI under Setup > Administration > Web Server Settings, or verify ports 443 or 8080 are listening
    Affected if the Web UI service is active and accessible on the device
  3. Review HTTP Host header handling (if possible)
    Inspect any available Web UI logs or proxy/cache configuration for evidence of unvalidated Host header processing, or test by sending a request with a modified Host header to the Web UI endpoint
    Affected if the Web UI accepts and reflects arbitrary Host header values without validation

A WatchGuard Fireware OS device is affected if it runs version 12.0.0 through 12.11.0 or 12.5.0 through 12.5.12 with the Web UI enabled and accessible.

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 12.5.13 / 12.11.1 or later
Fixed in 12.5.1312.11.1
Interim mitigation

Update Fireware OS to a version beyond 12.11 once available, or implement WAF rules to validate and sanitize HTTP Host header values before reaching the Web UI.

Recommended fix High confidence

Fireware OS 12.11.1 or later (or 12.5.13 or later for the 12.5.x branch)

  1. Log into the WatchGuard Firebox management interface using admin credentials
  2. Navigate to System > Firmware or System > Setup > Firmware Update
  3. Download the appropriate firmware image (version 12.11.1 or 12.5.13 or later) from the WatchGuard support portal at www.watchguard.com
  4. Upload the firmware image to the Firebox device
  5. Review the firmware upgrade warnings and confirm the upgrade
  6. Allow the device to reboot and complete the firmware installation
  7. After reboot, verify the new firmware version is installed by checking System > Status or System Information
  8. Verify the Web UI is functioning normally and test that HTTP Host header handling is secure
Caveat Review WatchGuard release notes for any configuration or feature changes between your current version and the target version before upgrading

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

Fix this in Fireware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,544.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-0178 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2025-0178 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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