Improper Privilege ManagementWeakness · CWE-269

CVE-2025-53913

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v4.0 Published 2025-09-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
75/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Excessive Privileges vulnerability in Calix GigaCenter ONT (Quantenna SoC modules) allows Privilege Abuse.This issue affects GigaCenter ONT: 844E, 844G, 844GE, 854GE, 812G, 813G, 818G.

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 confidence

This is an Excessive Privileges vulnerability in the firmware of Calix GigaCenter ONT devices using Quantenna SoC modules. The vulnerability allows privilege abuse, likely meaning an authenticated user or attacker can elevate or misuse their privileges beyond what should be permitted for their role, potentially gaining administrative or unauthorized access to device functions.

MitigationContact Calix for firmware updates addressing the excessive privileges vulnerability. In the interim, restrict access to ONT management interfaces to trusted networks only and monitor for unauthorized privilege escalation attempts.

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

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
Physical
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
Authentication
X
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:P/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

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 device model and firmware version
    Access the ONT management interface or use SNMP/SSH to query the device for its model number (GigaCenter) and current firmware version. Check Calix release notes or firmware metadata for version information.
    Affected if The device is a Calix GigaCenter ONT and the firmware version cannot be confirmed as patched or is earlier than the fixed release.
  2. Confirm Quantenna SoC module is present
    Query the device for hardware specifications or system information that lists the chipset or system-on-chip (SoC) module. This may be visible in the web interface under 'Device Info' or via CLI commands like 'show hardware' or 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' if accessible.
    Affected if The device uses a Quantenna SoC module, which is the affected component.
  3. Verify management interface accessibility
    Check network configuration to determine if the ONT management interfaces (web UI, CLI via SSH/Telnet, or TR-069) are exposed to untrusted networks. Review firewall rules, VLAN configuration, and ACLs controlling access to device management IPs.
    Affected if Management interfaces are accessible from untrusted or external networks, increasing exposure to privilege escalation attempts.
  4. Review user accounts and privilege levels
    If you have administrative access, enumerate all local user accounts on the ONT and their assigned privilege levels or roles. Look for unexpected accounts, accounts with elevated privileges, or discrepancies between assigned and effective permissions.
    Affected if There are unauthorized accounts present or users have privileges beyond what is expected for their assigned role.
  5. Audit recent administrative activity
    Review system logs, audit logs, or authentication logs for recent changes to user accounts, privilege modifications, or administrative actions that could indicate exploitation or attempted privilege escalation.
    Affected if Logs show unauthorized privilege modifications or administrative actions performed by non-administrator accounts.

You are affected if you have a Calix GigaCenter ONT device using a Quantenna SoC with management interfaces accessible to untrusted networks, or if you observe unauthorized privilege modifications or unexpected administrative accounts.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Contact Calix for firmware updates addressing the excessive privileges vulnerability. In the interim, restrict access to ONT management interfaces to trusted networks only and monitor for unauthorized privilege escalation attempts.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
27.0 hours of engineering $4,800
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2025-53913 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