CVE-2025-2538
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 · uneditedA hardcoded credential vulnerability exists in a specific deployment pattern for Esri Portal for ArcGIS versions 11.4 and below that may allow a remote unauthenticated attacker to gain administrative access to the system.
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 · moderate confidenceA hardcoded credential vulnerability exists in Esri Portal for ArcGIS versions 11.4 and below in a specific deployment pattern. This flaw allows remote unauthenticated attackers to gain administrative access to the system due to statically embedded credentials within the application or its deployment configuration.
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<= 11.4CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Esri Portal for ArcGIS versionAccess the ArcGIS Portal Administrator Directory and navigate to the version information endpoint, or check the installation logs and system inventory for the Portal version numberAffected if The installed version is 11.4 or any version below 11.4 (e.g., 11.3, 11.2, 11.1, 11.0, earlier releases)
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Locate configuration and deployment filesReview all configuration files associated with the Esri Portal deployment including startup scripts, configuration XML/YAML files, property files, and any deployment automation scripts used in the environmentAffected if Static or embedded credentials (usernames, passwords, API keys, tokens) are found directly written in any configuration or deployment file
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Search for hardcoded credentials in application directoriesUse grep or a file content search tool to scan Portal installation directories and webapp folders for strings matching patterns like 'password=', 'username=', 'pwd=', 'credential=', or suspicious base64-encoded strings that decode to credentialsAffected if Plaintext or easily reversible credentials are discovered embedded in application code or configuration files
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Inspect the specific deployment patternReview the particular deployment configuration in use (e.g., single-machine, clustered, cloud deployment) and examine any deployment-specific configuration files, bootstrap scripts, or initialization scripts for embedded credentialsAffected if Credentials are hardcoded in deployment-specific configuration files unique to the deployment pattern in use
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Test for unauthorized administrative accessUsing the discovered or suspected hardcoded credentials, attempt to authenticate to the ArcGIS Portal Administrator Directory or Portal for ArcGIS admin API endpoints with these credentials to verify if they grant administrative privilegesAffected if The hardcoded credentials successfully authenticate and provide administrative-level access to the Portal without prior knowledge of legitimate credentials
You are affected if Esri Portal for ArcGIS version 11.4 or below is deployed and hardcoded credentials are present in any configuration or deployment file that can be used to gain unauthenticated administrative access.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedImmediately identify and remove any hardcoded credentials in the affected deployment, replace them with secure credential management (e.g., environment variables, secrets management solutions), and update to a patched version if available. Review all deployment configurations for similar issues.
Portal for ArcGIS 11.5 or later
- 1. Back up the current Portal for ArcGIS configuration and data according to Esri documentation
- 2. Review the Esri Support Site (support.esri.com) for the specific 11.5 patch or upgrade instructions
- 3. Download Portal for ArcGIS version 11.5 or later from the Esri Customer Portal
- 4. Follow the Esri upgrade procedure for Portal for ArcGIS, ensuring the upgrade is performed during a maintenance window
- 5. After upgrade, verify the hardcoded credential vulnerability is remediated by confirming the affected deployment pattern no longer contains embedded credentials
- 6. Change any default or administrative passwords that may have been exposed or used in the affected deployment pattern
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-2538 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-2538 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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