Overview
A stack buffer overflow vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-8404, has been discovered in the shared libraries of Supermicro Baseboard Management Controllers (BMCs). This vulnerability could allow an authenticated attacker with access to the BMC to achieve arbitrary code execution on the BMC’s firmware operating system by exploiting a crafted header. Successful exploitation allows for significant compromise of the affected system.
Technical Details
CVE-2025-8404 is a stack buffer overflow vulnerability present within a Supermicro BMC shared library. The vulnerability occurs because the BMC software fails to properly validate the size of data received in a specific header during communication. An authenticated attacker with network access to the BMC (typically via IPMI or other management interfaces) can exploit this flaw by sending a specially crafted header containing more data than the allocated buffer size. This overflow allows the attacker to overwrite adjacent memory locations on the stack, potentially overwriting return addresses and other critical data. By carefully crafting the payload, an attacker can hijack the control flow of the BMC firmware and execute arbitrary code.
CVSS Analysis
The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS score of 5.5, indicating a MEDIUM severity. The CVSS vector reflects the following characteristics:
- Attack Vector: Network (AV:N)
- Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L)
- Privileges Required: High (PR:H) – Requires authentication to the BMC.
- User Interaction: None (UI:N)
- Scope: Changed (S:C) – Exploitation can impact components beyond the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality Impact: High (C:H)
- Integrity Impact: High (I:H)
- Availability Impact: None (A:N) – While direct availability impact is listed as none, remote code execution can easily lead to denial-of-service.
While the CVSS score is medium due to the High privileges required, the potential impact of successful exploitation is significant.
Possible Impact
Successful exploitation of CVE-2025-8404 can have severe consequences, including:
- Remote Code Execution: The attacker can execute arbitrary code on the BMC, gaining complete control over the device.
- Firmware Modification: The attacker can modify the BMC firmware, potentially installing backdoors or malicious code that persists across reboots.
- System Compromise: The BMC can be used as a pivot point to compromise the host server, allowing the attacker to access sensitive data or disrupt operations.
- Denial of Service: While not explicitly listed in the CVSS score, an attacker can easily cause a denial-of-service condition by crashing the BMC or corrupting its configuration.
Mitigation or Patch Steps
Supermicro has released a patch to address CVE-2025-8404. It is highly recommended to apply the following mitigation steps:
- Apply the Patch: Download and install the latest BMC firmware update from the Supermicro website as soon as possible. Refer to Supermicro’s security advisory for specific instructions.
- Network Segmentation: Isolate the BMC network from the production network to limit the potential impact of a successful attack.
- Strong Authentication: Enforce strong passwords and multi-factor authentication for BMC access.
- Disable Unnecessary Services: Disable any unnecessary services running on the BMC to reduce the attack surface.
- Monitor BMC Activity: Monitor BMC logs for suspicious activity and potential exploitation attempts.
