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FirewareOperating system · Watchguard

CVE-2025-11838

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-12-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.11.5 / 2025.1.3 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
A memory corruption vulnerability in WatchGuard Fireware OS may allow an unauthenticated attacker to trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) condition in the Mobile User VPN with IKEv2 and the Branch Office VPN using IKEv2 when configured with a dynamic gateway peer.

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in WatchGuard Fireware OS allows unauthenticated attackers to crash the IKEv2 daemon (ipsec_daemon) via malformed IKEv2 messages when dynamic gateway peers are configured in Mobile User VPN or Branch Office VPN, resulting in a denial of service condition.

MitigationUpgrade Fireware OS to a patched version (not specified in advisory). If immediate patching is not feasible, consider restricting IKEv2 VPN access to trusted networks via firewall policies or disabling dynamic gateway peer configurations if not operationally required.

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:>= 2025.1, < 2025.1.3>= 12.0.0, < 12.11.5

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

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 Fireware OS version
    Access the Firebox Web UI (Policy Manager or Dimension) or use the CLI command `fireware -v` or `fwprintenv version` to retrieve the installed Fireware OS version number.
    Affected if The installed version falls within >= 2025.1 and < 2025.1.3, OR >= 12.0.0 and < 12.11.5.
  2. Verify Mobile User VPN configuration
    In Firebox Web UI, navigate to VPN > Mobile User VPN > Gateway Settings, or use the CLI command `vpn mobike config show` to check if dynamic gateway peers are configured.
    Affected if Dynamic gateway peers are enabled in the Mobile User VPN configuration.
  3. Verify Branch Office VPN configuration
    In Firebox Web UI, navigate to VPN > Branch Office VPN > Gateway Settings, or use the CLI command `vpn branch config show` to check if dynamic gateway peers are configured.
    Affected if Dynamic gateway peers are enabled in the Branch Office VPN configuration.
  4. Confirm IKEv2 daemon status
    Use the CLI command `diag debug ipsec` or check process status with `ps aux | grep ipsec_daemon` to verify the IKEv2 daemon (ipsec_daemon) is running.
    Affected if The IKEv2 daemon is active and VPN gateways with dynamic peers are configured.

The environment is affected if Fireware OS version is 12.0.0 through 12.11.4 or 2025.1 through 2025.1.2 AND dynamic gateway peers are configured in either Mobile User VPN or Branch Office VPN.

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 12.11.5 / 2025.1.3 or later
Fixed in 12.11.52025.1.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Fireware OS to a patched version (not specified in advisory). If immediate patching is not feasible, consider restricting IKEv2 VPN access to trusted networks via firewall policies or disabling dynamic gateway peer configurations if not operationally required.

Recommended fix High confidence

Fireware OS 2025.1.3 or later, or Fireware OS 12.11.5 or later

  1. Identify the current Fireware OS version running on the WatchGuard appliance
  2. Download the fixed Fireware OS version (2025.1.3 or later for the 2025.x branch, or 12.11.5 or later for the 12.x branch) from the WatchGuard support portal at www.watchguard.com/support
  3. Review WatchGuard upgrade documentation and ensure backup of current configuration is performed
  4. Upload the firmware upgrade file through the WatchGuard Firebox Management interface or Web UI
  5. Apply the firmware upgrade and allow the appliance to reboot
  6. Verify the upgrade was successful and the VPN configurations with IKEv2 dynamic gateway peers are functioning properly

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
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,800
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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-2025-11838 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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