CVE-2025-22246: Cloud Foundry UAA Information Disclosure

CVE-2025-22246 Overview

CVE-2025-22246 is an information disclosure vulnerability affecting Cloud Foundry User Account and Authentication (UAA) release versions from v77.21.0 through v7.31.0. The flaw causes a private key to be written into application log output. Attackers with access to log files or log aggregation systems can recover the cryptographic material and use it to impersonate trusted services or decrypt sensitive data. The issue is categorized under CWE-532: Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File.

Critical Impact

Exposure of a UAA private key in logs allows attackers reading those logs to compromise authentication trust boundaries across Cloud Foundry deployments.

Affected Products

• Cloud Foundry uaa_release versions v77.21.0 through v7.31.0
• Cloud Foundry cf-deployment distributions bundling the affected UAA release
• Any platform integration relying on the exposed UAA signing key

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-05-13 - CVE-2025-22246 published to the National Vulnerability Database
• 2025-07-11 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-22246

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability stems from Cloud Foundry UAA writing a private key value to log output during normal operation. UAA is the identity management service responsible for issuing OAuth2 tokens and managing authentication across Cloud Foundry deployments. When sensitive cryptographic material reaches log streams, it is typically replicated to centralized logging backends, file-based log rotation archives, and operator dashboards.

This information disclosure issue carries a confidentiality impact without affecting integrity or availability directly. However, the leaked key material can be used in follow-on attacks against authentication flows. Anyone with read access to UAA logs, including operators, downstream log shippers, or attackers who breach a log aggregator, can extract the key.

The vulnerability requires no authentication and no user interaction to exploit once log access is obtained. The Exploit Prediction Scoring System currently rates exploitation likelihood as low, and no public proof-of-concept exists.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper handling of sensitive material during log statement construction within the UAA codebase. A code path responsible for processing or initializing key material serializes the private key object into a log message rather than redacting it. This is a classic [CWE-532] pattern where developers log object state for debugging without filtering credentials.

Attack Vector

An attacker exploits the issue by gaining read access to UAA log output. Common access paths include compromised log aggregation infrastructure, misconfigured log forwarders, unauthorized access to platform operator tooling, or insider access. Once the private key is recovered, the attacker can forge tokens or impersonate the UAA service to relying parties. The vulnerability does not require code execution on the UAA host itself, making it remotely exploitable wherever logs are accessible.

No verified exploit code is publicly available. Refer to the Cloud Foundry security advisory for vendor-provided technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-22246

Indicators of Compromise

• Presence of PEM-formatted strings such as -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY----- or -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY----- inside UAA log files or aggregated log indices
• Unexpected token issuance or signing activity from UAA that does not correlate with legitimate client requests
• Access patterns showing unusual reads of UAA log streams from non-operator accounts or service principals

Detection Strategies

• Run regex-based searches across log archives, SIEM indices, and backup snapshots for private key headers and base64 key blob patterns
• Audit log aggregation pipelines (Loggregator, syslog drains, third-party SaaS log platforms) for retained UAA records that may contain the leaked material
• Correlate UAA token issuance events with the identity of the requesting client to identify forged or anomalous tokens

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable continuous secret scanning on log storage buckets and SIEM data lakes to flag cryptographic material at ingest
• Monitor UAA versions deployed across foundations and alert on any instance still running a vulnerable uaa_release build
• Track access to log indices that historically contained UAA records and require approval for export operations

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-22246

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade UAA to a fixed release as identified in the Cloud Foundry advisory and redeploy affected foundations using an updated cf-deployment manifest
• Rotate the exposed UAA signing key and any keys with material that may have been written to logs, then re-issue dependent certificates and tokens
• Purge historical log data containing the leaked key from primary logging systems, backups, and downstream SaaS log platforms

Patch Information

Cloud Foundry has published guidance and a fixed release line through the official advisory. Operators should consult the Cloud Foundry blog post for CVE-2025-22246 to identify the specific patched uaa_release version and align cf-deployment to a compatible revision. Apply the upgrade through standard BOSH deployment procedures and validate that UAA starts cleanly with the rotated keys.

Workarounds

• Restrict read access to UAA log streams and log aggregation backends to a minimal set of operators until the upgrade is applied
• Configure log filtering or redaction rules at the log forwarder layer to strip PEM-formatted key blocks before they reach durable storage
• Reduce log retention for UAA components and disable verbose or debug logging levels that may surface additional sensitive state