Introduction
Administrative access to enterprise middleware can mean full control over sensitive data and critical systems. CVE-2025-9312 exposes a path for attackers to bypass mutual TLS authentication in WSO2 products, potentially granting unauthorized administrative privileges over REST and SOAP interfaces.
WSO2 is a major open source middleware vendor with a global customer base in banking, healthcare, government, and technology. Their products are widely used for API management, identity, and integration, making vulnerabilities in their authentication mechanisms highly impactful across industries.
Technical Information
CVE-2025-9312 is a critical missing authentication enforcement vulnerability in the mutual TLS (mTLS) implementation for System REST APIs and SOAP services across multiple WSO2 products. When mTLS is enabled using default configurations, the affected components may permit unauthenticated requests due to improper validation of client certificate-based authentication. This occurs in two scenarios:
- When relying on default mTLS settings for System REST APIs
- When the mTLS authenticator is enabled for SOAP services
In both cases, the system may accept requests that lack valid client certificates, even though mTLS is enabled. This allows an attacker with network access to the affected endpoints to gain administrative privileges and perform unauthorized operations. The vulnerability is only exploitable when the impacted mTLS flows are enabled and accessible in a given deployment. Other certificate-based authentication mechanisms such as Mutual TLS OAuth client authentication and X.509 login flows are not affected. APIs served through the API Gateway of WSO2 API Manager also remain unaffected.
The root cause is improper enforcement of authentication checks for critical administrative functions, classified under CWE-306 (Missing Authentication for Critical Function). The vulnerability does not require the attacker to possess valid credentials or certificates, significantly lowering the barrier to exploitation.
Affected Systems and Versions
- Affects multiple WSO2 products with System REST APIs and SOAP services where mTLS is enabled using default configurations or the mTLS authenticator is enabled for SOAP services
- Only administrative interfaces (System REST APIs and SOAP services) are affected
- APIs served through the API Gateway are not affected
- Mutual TLS OAuth client authentication and X.509 login flows are not affected
- For exact affected versions and products, refer to the official advisory: WSO2-2025-4494
Vendor Security History
WSO2 has previously experienced critical vulnerabilities in authentication and access control. Notable examples include:
- CVE-2022-29464: Unauthenticated file upload leading to remote code execution
- CVE-2024-6914: SOAP admin authentication bypass allowing unauthorized password resets
These issues have typically been addressed with prompt advisories and patches, but the recurrence of authentication flaws indicates ongoing challenges in endpoint security. Organizations using WSO2 should monitor advisories and prioritize timely updates.
