Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
Lifecycle Timeline
3DescriptionCVE.org
The software fails to enforce role-based access controls for certain Gateway API invocations. Users with the 'Internal/Everyone' role can invoke these APIs, bypassing intended permission checks. This same vulnerability also affects Internal Service APIs, potentially exposing them in WSO2 APIM 3.x versions.
A malicious actor with a valid user account on a vulnerable deployment can perform sensitive operations against the Gateway REST API regardless of their actual roles or privileges. This could lead to unintended behavior or misuse, particularly in production environments.
AnalysisAI
Role-based access control bypass in WSO2 API Manager 3.x allows authenticated users with the 'Internal/Everyone' role to invoke Gateway and Internal Service APIs without proper permission enforcement, enabling unauthorized operations on sensitive REST API endpoints. The vulnerability affects multiple WSO2 products including API Control Plane, Universal Gateway, and Traffic Manager. CVSS 6.3 (network-accessible, low complexity, requires valid user credentials) indicates moderate severity with clear lateral privilege escalation potential in multi-tenant environments.
Technical ContextAI
WSO2 API Manager implements role-based access control (RBAC) through role assignments that determine which users can invoke protected Gateway APIs and Internal Service APIs. The vulnerability stems from improper authorization checks in the API invocation handler, likely in the carbon-api-management-implementation or carbon-api-manager-rest-api-utility components. CWE-281 (Improper Authorization) indicates the application fails to verify that the authenticated user's assigned roles match the required permissions before granting access to sensitive API operations. The 'Internal/Everyone' role-typically a catch-all or default role meant for limited operations-is incorrectly granted access to privileged Gateway REST APIs and internal service endpoints that should require elevated permissions. This affects the API Control Plane, Universal Gateway, and Traffic Manager components that share the same authorization framework.
RemediationAI
Apply the patch released by WSO2 as described in security advisory WSO2-2025-4401; consult the advisory link for exact fixed version numbers. If immediate patching is not possible, implement compensating controls: restrict the 'Internal/Everyone' role assignment to only essential user accounts that genuinely require internal API access, and audit current role assignments to identify users with unnecessary elevated role grants. Additionally, implement network-level access controls to restrict Gateway API and Internal Service API endpoints to trusted internal networks only, reducing exposure to authenticated users without direct legitimate access. Monitor and log all Gateway API and Internal Service API invocations, paying special attention to requests from users with the 'Internal/Everyone' role; configure alerts for anomalous API operations. These controls do not eliminate the vulnerability but reduce exploitability window and detectability. Patch deployment is the definitive remediation; workarounds carry operational risk of legitimate access denial if overly restrictive.
More in Wso2 Api Manager
View allAuthentication bypass in WSO2 API Manager and related components (Universal Gateway, Traffic Manager, API Control Plane,
Server-side request forgery in WSO2 API Manager lets unauthenticated remote attackers coerce the gateway into making ser
Privilege escalation in WSO2 API Manager and related Carbon-based products allows a low-privileged user, using a validly
Authentication bypass in WSO2 Identity Server and multiple WSO2 platform products (API Manager, Open Banking AM/IAM/KM,
Persistent denial of service in multiple WSO2 products - including WSO2 API Manager, WSO2 Universal Gateway, WSO2 Traffi
OS command injection (CWE-78) in WSO2's shared Carbon Console administrative interface allows an authenticated administr
The XML parsers within multiple WSO2 products accept user-supplied XML data without properly configuring to prevent the
Reflected cross-site scripting across at least eight WSO2 platform products - including Identity Server, API Manager, AP
The authentication endpoint fails to adequately validate user-supplied input before reflecting it back in the response.
Reflected cross-site scripting in the authentication endpoint of WSO2 API Manager and Identity Server allows unauthentic
WSO2 API Manager and API Control Plane use a non-cryptographic PRNG in the API Publisher component to generate shared se
CSRF in the WSO2 Carbon console Ajax processor enables an attacker to silently execute unauthorized state-changing opera
Same weakness CWE-281 – Improper Preservation of Permissions
View allSame technique Information Disclosure
View allShare
External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today
EUVD-2025-209759
GHSA-xh36-jjpq-3cmr