DEV Community

Sharon
Sharon

Posted on

CVE-2025-0282: Remote Code Execution in Ivanti Connect Secure VPN

#vulnerabilities #cybersecurity #websecurity

> About Author
Hi, I'm Sharon, a product manager at Chaitin Tech. We build SafeLine, an open-source Web Application Firewall built for real-world threats. While SafeLine focuses on HTTP-layer protection, our emergency response center monitors and responds to RCE and authentication vulnerabilities across the stack to help developers stay safe.

Ivanti Connect Secure (ICS) is a popular enterprise-grade SSL VPN solution used for secure remote access, authentication, and access control. In January 2025, Ivanti disclosed two serious stack overflow vulnerabilities — one of which, CVE-2025-0282, has been confirmed as actively exploited in the wild.

Vulnerability Overview

Root Cause

The flaw stems from improper length validation when handling specific network protocol fields. Ivanti Connect Secure incorrectly uses the input string length as a parameter for memory copy operations, allowing a carefully crafted oversized string to trigger a stack-based buffer overflow.

This leads to overwriting stack variables and return addresses — enabling unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code remotely. Even though modern mitigations like ASLR and PIE are enabled, in-the-wild exploitation has already been observed.

Impact

Successful exploitation could give an attacker full control of the VPN device, including:

  • Remote command execution
  • Persistent backdoor installation
  • Internal network traversal
  • Sensitive data exfiltration
  • Use of the device as a pivot point for further attacks

Technical Summary

  • Vulnerability Type: Stack buffer overflow
  • Severity: Critical
  • Trigger: Remote unauthenticated input
  • Authentication Required: No (Pre-Auth)
  • Affected Versions: ICS 22.7R2 and below (e.g., 22.7R2.4)
  • User Interaction: None
  • Exploitation Status: Confirmed in the wild
  • Fix Complexity: Low (official patch available)

Affected Products

According to Ivanti’s official advisory:

  • Ivanti Connect Secure: 22.7R2.4 and earlier
  • Ivanti Policy Secure and Neurons for ZTA may also be affected (partial patches pending)

Mitigation & Response

Temporary Workarounds

  1. Use Ivanti Integrity Checker Tool (ICT)

    Validate system file integrity and scan for signs of tampering or backdoors.

  2. Restrict VPN Gateway Access

    Limit access to trusted IPs only. Block untrusted network ranges via firewall or WAF.

  3. Audit Login Activity and Logs

    Watch for unusual login attempts, deleted logs, crash dumps, or tampering.

  4. Rotate All Credentials and Certificates

    Change admin passwords, API keys, and revoke any exposed certificates.

Permanent Fixes

  1. Upgrade Immediately

    Ivanti has released version 22.7R2.5, which addresses CVE-2025-0282 and related vulnerabilities. Patch your systems now.

  2. Perform a Full System Audit

    If compromise is suspected, perform a factory reset and redeploy in a clean environment. Run integrity checks post-upgrade to confirm no residual tampering.

Reproduction

Image description

Timeline

Date Event
Jan 9, 2025 Public disclosure of the vulnerability
Jan 10, 2025 Vulnerability reproduced by cybersecurity researchers
Jan 11, 2025 Emergency advisory published

Reference

Join the SafeLine Community

Want to try a powerful, open source WAF?

If you’re running Ivanti VPN products, patch now and audit thoroughly. This RCE is pre-auth, actively exploited, and incredibly dangerous.

Top comments (0)