CVE-2025-12815: AWS RES Information Disclosure Vulnerability

CVE-2025-12815 Overview

CVE-2025-12815 is an ownership verification flaw in the Virtual Desktop preview page of the AWS Research and Engineering Studio (RES). The vulnerability affects RES deployments prior to version 2025.09. An authenticated remote user can view another user's active desktop session metadata, including periodic desktop preview screenshots. The issue is tracked under CWE-283: Unverified Ownership and is described in AWS Security Bulletin 2025-026 and GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-x3cx-g8g9-75hv.

Critical Impact
Authenticated RES users can access other users' Virtual Desktop session metadata and preview screenshots, exposing potentially sensitive research and engineering workflows.

Affected Products

AWS Research and Engineering Studio (RES) versions prior to 2025.09
Virtual Desktop preview page component within RES
Self-managed RES deployments on AWS

Discovery Timeline

2025-11-06 - CVE-2025-12815 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-12815

Vulnerability Analysis

The Virtual Desktop preview page in AWS Research and Engineering Studio fails to verify session ownership before returning session data. When an authenticated user requests preview information, the application returns data associated with sessions belonging to other tenants of the same RES environment. This includes session metadata and periodic screenshot previews of the desktop.

Exposed screenshots may reveal research data, source code, terminal contents, credentials on screen, and other sensitive information rendered within an active desktop session. The flaw does not require special privileges beyond a valid authenticated account within the RES environment. Integrity and availability of the underlying desktops are not affected, but confidentiality of collaborating users is degraded.

Root Cause

The defect is an authorization gap categorized under [CWE-283]. The preview endpoint checks that the caller is authenticated but does not confirm that the requested session identifier is owned by the calling principal. Missing ownership validation on server-side handlers allows cross-user data retrieval by identifier substitution.

Attack Vector

An attacker with valid RES credentials interacts with the Virtual Desktop preview page and supplies or enumerates session identifiers belonging to other users. The RES backend returns the requested session metadata and screenshot without an ownership check. Exploitation is network-reachable through the standard RES web interface and requires only low privileges.

See the GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-x3cx-g8g9-75hv for advisory details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-12815

Indicators of Compromise

Application logs showing a single user account requesting Virtual Desktop preview data for multiple session identifiers not associated with that user.
High-frequency or sequential enumeration of session IDs against the Virtual Desktop preview endpoint.
Access to preview screenshot resources from user principals that do not own the corresponding desktop session.

Detection Strategies

Correlate RES application logs and AWS CloudTrail events with the session owner mapping to flag ownership mismatches between requester and session.
Baseline normal preview access patterns per user and alert on outliers accessing sessions across users or projects.
Review web access logs for repeated GET requests to preview endpoints varying only the session identifier parameter.

Monitoring Recommendations

Forward RES web tier and API logs to a centralized SIEM or data lake for authorization anomaly analysis.
Alert on any RES account that queries preview data for sessions owned by other users, especially across project boundaries.
Monitor for unexpected spikes in preview endpoint request volume after user login events.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-12815

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade AWS Research and Engineering Studio to version 2025.09 or later, as directed in AWS Security Bulletin 2025-026.
Inventory all RES deployments across AWS accounts and identify any running versions below 2025.09.
Review historical RES application logs for signs of cross-user preview access prior to patching.

Patch Information

AWS released the fix in RES version 2025.09. The updated release is available on the project's GitHub Release 2025.09 page. Administrators should follow the standard RES upgrade procedure to move existing environments to the patched version and validate that the Virtual Desktop preview page enforces ownership checks after upgrade.

Workarounds

Restrict RES access to trusted user groups until the upgrade to 2025.09 can be completed.
Advise users to avoid displaying sensitive data such as credentials or unpublished research within Virtual Desktop sessions until patched.
Rotate any secrets that may have been visible on screen during active RES sessions prior to remediation.

bash

# Verify the deployed RES version and plan upgrade to 2025.09 or later
# Refer to https://github.com/aws/res/releases/tag/2025.09 for release notes
# and the official RES upgrade documentation before applying the patch.