User-ID Credential Agent: Exposure of Sensitive System Information to an Unauthorized Control Sphere
CVE-2025-4235 is a high-severity exposure of sensitive system information to an unauthorized control sphere vulnerability in User-ID Credential Agent from Palo Alto Networks, with a CVSS 4.0 base score of 7.2 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.18% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Check which version of User-ID Credential Agent you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palo Alto Networks | User-ID Credential Agent | Not specified in the record | Not stated |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Attack requirements
- PresentThe target must be in a specific state or configuration for the attack to work.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
- HighSerious loss of confidentiality on the vulnerable system.
- Integrity (vulnerable system)
- LowLimited loss of integrity on the vulnerable system.
- Availability (vulnerable system)
- LowLimited loss of availability on the vulnerable system.
- Confidentiality (other systems)
- HighSerious loss of confidentiality on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
- Integrity (other systems)
- HighSerious loss of integrity on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
- Availability (other systems)
- HighSerious loss of availability on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:L/VA:L/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/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:N/R:U/V:D/RE:M/U:Amber. Scored by CNA (paloaltonetworks.com).
Official description
An information exposure vulnerability in the Palo Alto Networks User-ID Credential Agent (Windows-based) can expose the service account password under specific non-default configurations. This allows an unprivileged Domain User to escalate privileges by exploiting the account’s permissions. The impact varies by configuration: * Minimally Privileged Accounts: Enable disruption of User-ID Credential Agent operations (e.g., uninstalling or disabling the agent service), weakening network security policies that leverage Credential Phishing Prevention https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/advanced-url-filtering/administration/url-filtering-features/credential-phishing-prevention under a Domain Credential Filter https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/advanced-url-filtering/administration/url-filtering-features/credential-phishing-prevention/methods-to-check-for-corporate-credential-submissions configuration. * Elevated Accounts (Server Operator, Domain Join, Legacy Features): Permit increased impacts, including server control (e.g., shutdown/restart), domain manipulation (e.g., rogue computer objects), and network compromise via reconnaissance or client probing.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Exposure of Sensitive System Information to an Unauthorized Control Sphere
The product does not properly prevent sensitive system-level information from being accessed by unauthorized actors who do not have the same level of access to the underlying system as the product does.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Production applications should never use methods that generate internal details such as stack traces and error messages unless that information is directly committed to a log that is not viewable by the end user. All error message text should be HTML entity encoded before being written to the log file to protect against potential cross-site scripting attacks against the viewer of the logs
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Other references
Recent Exposure of Sensitive System Information to an Unauthorized Control Sphere vulnerabilities
- 10.0 Critical severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.7 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
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