EUVD-2026-41458
GHSA-jw2p-m8jh-c458
Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:L/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
AC:H reflects the 'exception circumstances' trigger condition plus FireCluster-only deployment requirement; PR:H per CVSS 4.0 vector; S:C because decrypted Access Portal credentials directly impact downstream protected resource systems.
Primary rating from Vendor (WatchGuard).
CVSS VectorVendor: WatchGuard
Lifecycle Timeline
1DescriptionCVE.org
In exception circumstances, WatchGuard Fireware OS on a FireCluster may use a hard-coded encryption key to encrypt saved credentials for Access Portal resources.
This vulnerability affects Fireware OS 12.1 up to and including 12.12 and 2025.1 up to and including 2026.2. This vulnerability does not affect devices that do not support the Access Portal feature or standalone Fireboxes not deployed in a FireCluster.
AnalysisAI
WatchGuard Fireware OS deployed in FireCluster high-availability configurations falls back to a static, hard-coded encryption key to protect saved Access Portal credentials under unspecified exception circumstances, meaning any actor who can retrieve those encrypted credential stores can decrypt them offline using the known firmware key. Affected builds span Fireware OS 12.1 through 12.12 and 2025.1 through 2026.2; standalone Fireboxes and devices without Access Portal support are explicitly out of scope. No public exploit has been identified at time of analysis and this vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog, but CWE-798 class flaws become broadly exploitable once the static key is extracted from firmware through reverse engineering.
Technical ContextAI
Fireware OS is the operating system powering WatchGuard Firebox network security appliances. FireCluster is WatchGuard's high-availability feature that pairs two physical or virtual Firebox units for state and configuration synchronization. The Access Portal feature provides clientless browser-based access to internal web applications and backend resources, storing user credentials for those resources locally on the appliance. The vulnerability is classified as CWE-798 (Use of Hard-coded Credentials): specifically, a hard-coded symmetric encryption key embedded in the firmware is invoked as a fallback when protecting these stored credentials under undefined 'exception circumstances,' rather than using a dynamically generated key. CPE data confirms the affected product as cpe:2.3:a:watchguard:fireware_os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*, covering all builds across the affected version ranges. The CVSS 4.0 attack requirement AT:P encodes the architectural constraint that the flaw only surfaces in FireCluster deployments with Access Portal active.
RemediationAI
Apply the vendor-released patch per WatchGuard security advisory WGSA-2026-00025 at https://www.watchguard.com/wgrd-psirt/advisory/wgsa-2026-00025; the exact patched Fireware OS version was not included in the available source data and must be confirmed directly from that advisory before deployment. Until the patch is applied, disabling the Access Portal feature on affected FireCluster deployments eliminates the vulnerable credential storage path entirely - note this removes all clientless VPN access functionality for end users and should be weighed against operational impact. As an additional compensating control, restrict Firebox management interface access to dedicated, isolated management networks using firewall policy, reducing the likelihood that an attacker with high-privilege credentials can interact with the management plane to extract stored credential material. After patching, rotate all credentials that were configured for Access Portal backend resources on affected FireCluster deployments, since those credentials may have been encrypted under the hard-coded key during any prior exception circumstance occurrences and could be at risk if the key is published.
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Same weakness CWE-798 – Use of Hard-coded Credentials
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External POC / Exploit Code
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