CVE-2025-11690: IDOR Information Disclosure Vulnerability

CVE-2025-11690 Overview

CVE-2025-11690 is an Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) vulnerability [CWE-639] affecting a connected-vehicle backend API. The flaw resides in the vehicleId parameter, which the server fails to authorize against the requesting user's identity. An authenticated attacker can substitute another user's vehicleId value and retrieve sensitive data belonging to that vehicle. Exposed data includes GPS coordinates, encryption keys, initialization vectors, model numbers, and fuel statistics. Public research describes the issue impacting approximately 100,000 connected motorcycles, demonstrating large-scale data exposure across the affected fleet.

Critical Impact
An authenticated attacker can enumerate vehicleId values to harvest GPS locations, cryptographic keys, and telemetry for vehicles owned by other users.

Affected Products

Connected vehicle backend API (vendor undisclosed in NVD record)
Mobile companion application consuming the affected API endpoint
Approximately 100,000 connected motorcycles referenced in public research

Discovery Timeline

2025-11-04 - CVE-2025-11690 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
2026-04-15 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-11690

Vulnerability Analysis

The API endpoint accepts a vehicleId parameter and returns vehicle-specific data without verifying that the authenticated session owns the referenced vehicle. The server trusts the client-supplied identifier as an authorization assertion. Any authenticated user holding a valid session token can request data for arbitrary vehicleId values.

The returned payload is rich in security-sensitive material. GPS coordinates enable physical tracking of vehicle owners. Encryption keys and initialization vectors compromise the confidentiality of the vehicle's encrypted communications. Model numbers and fuel statistics enable targeted fleet enumeration.

Because vehicleId values are predictable or enumerable, an attacker can iterate the identifier space and exfiltrate data for the entire vehicle population. The vulnerability requires only low-privileged authenticated access and no user interaction. The scope is changed because the data exposed belongs to other security principals.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing server-side authorization, classified as Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key [CWE-639]. The backend performs authentication but omits the per-request check that links the session subject to the requested vehicleId. Per the vendor advisory, the fix is a server-side authorization enforcement.

Attack Vector

Exploitation is network-based and uses standard HTTP API tooling. An attacker registers a legitimate account, captures the API request flow for their own vehicle, then replays the request while substituting a different vehicleId. Successful responses confirm IDOR and return another user's vehicle data. Iterating across the identifier space scales the attack to the entire fleet. See the Medium research write-up on motorcycle API hacking for the exploitation methodology.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-11690

Indicators of Compromise

High-volume API requests from a single authenticated session iterating sequential or randomized vehicleId values
Successful HTTP 200 responses to vehicleId requests where the identifier does not belong to the requesting account
Unusual geographic spread of vehicleId lookups from a single client IP or session token
API responses containing encryption keys, initialization vectors, or GPS coordinates delivered to non-owner accounts

Detection Strategies

Instrument the API gateway to log the vehicleId parameter alongside the authenticated user identifier, then alert on mismatches
Apply rate-limiting analytics to flag enumeration patterns against the affected endpoint
Correlate session token usage with the count of distinct vehicleId values requested within short time windows

Monitoring Recommendations

Forward API gateway and backend application logs to a centralized analytics platform for ownership-mismatch queries
Track baseline vehicleId-per-user request ratios and alert on statistical deviations
Monitor outbound data volumes from API services for sudden increases consistent with bulk extraction

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-11690

Immediate Actions Required

Apply the vendor server-side authorization patch referenced in NCSC Security Advisory 2025-0350
Audit API gateway logs for historical vehicleId enumeration patterns and identify potentially exposed accounts
Rotate any encryption keys and initialization vectors that may have been disclosed through the vulnerable endpoint
Notify affected vehicle owners if log review confirms unauthorized data access

Patch Information

The vendor remediation is a server-side authorization enforcement that validates the authenticated session owns the requested vehicleId before returning data. Refer to the NCSC Security Advisory 2025-0350 for vendor coordination details.

Workarounds

Implement a reverse-proxy or API gateway policy that cross-references the session subject against the requested vehicleId before forwarding the request
Replace predictable numeric vehicleId values with high-entropy unguessable identifiers to slow enumeration where full authorization fixes are pending
Apply aggressive per-session rate limits on the affected endpoint to limit bulk extraction

bash

# Example API gateway pseudo-rule enforcing ownership check
# Reject requests where session user does not own the requested vehicleId
if request.path matches "/api/v1/vehicle/{vehicleId}":
    session_user = jwt.claims.sub
    if not db.query("SELECT 1 FROM vehicles WHERE id = ? AND owner = ?",
                    request.params.vehicleId, session_user):
        return 403 Forbidden