CVE-2025-26363: Q-free Maxtime Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2025-26363 Overview

CVE-2025-26363 is a Missing Authentication for Critical Function vulnerability (CWE-306) affecting Q-Free MaxTime traffic management systems. The vulnerability exists in the maxprofile/setup/routes.lua file and allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to enable an authentication profile server via crafted HTTP requests. This authentication bypass affects Q-Free MaxTime versions 2.11.0 and earlier, potentially allowing attackers to manipulate critical traffic management system configurations without proper authorization.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated remote attackers can enable authentication profile servers, potentially compromising traffic management system integrity and allowing unauthorized configuration changes to critical infrastructure systems.

Affected Products

• Q-Free MaxTime versions ≤ 2.11.0
• Traffic management systems using vulnerable MaxTime deployments
• Infrastructure utilizing Q-Free MaxTime authentication profile configurations

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-02-12 - CVE-2025-26363 published to NVD
• 2025-10-28 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-26363

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability stems from a missing authentication mechanism in the Q-Free MaxTime traffic management system. The affected component, maxprofile/setup/routes.lua, fails to properly verify that incoming requests are from authenticated users before allowing critical operations. As a result, unauthenticated remote attackers can send specially crafted HTTP requests to enable authentication profile servers, which could allow them to bypass security controls or manipulate system configurations.

The vulnerability is classified under CWE-306 (Missing Authentication for Critical Function), which describes scenarios where software does not perform any authentication for functionality that requires a provable user identity. In this case, the exposed endpoint allows modification of authentication profile server settings without verifying the identity of the requester.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-26363 is the absence of authentication checks in the routes.lua file within the maxprofile/setup directory. The Lua-based routing logic fails to validate user credentials or session tokens before processing requests that affect authentication profile server configurations. This design flaw allows any network-accessible attacker to interact with the endpoint and modify critical settings.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based and requires no privileges or user interaction. An attacker with network access to the vulnerable Q-Free MaxTime system can craft HTTP requests targeting the unauthenticated endpoint. The exploitation process involves:

1. Identifying a Q-Free MaxTime system accessible over the network
2. Crafting HTTP requests targeting the maxprofile/setup/routes endpoint
3. Sending requests to enable or manipulate authentication profile server settings
4. Gaining unauthorized control over authentication configurations

The vulnerability allows attackers to modify authentication infrastructure settings, which could enable subsequent attacks such as unauthorized access, credential interception, or complete authentication bypass for the traffic management system.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-26363

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected HTTP requests to /maxprofile/setup/routes or related endpoints from unauthorized IP addresses
• Unauthorized changes to authentication profile server configurations in MaxTime systems
• Log entries showing authentication profile server enablement without corresponding administrator actions
• Network traffic patterns indicating reconnaissance or exploitation attempts against MaxTime management interfaces

Detection Strategies

• Monitor HTTP access logs for requests to the maxprofile/setup/routes endpoint, especially from external or unexpected sources
• Implement network-based intrusion detection rules to identify crafted HTTP requests targeting MaxTime setup endpoints
• Deploy application-layer monitoring to detect unauthorized configuration changes in authentication profile settings
• Correlate authentication profile server status changes with legitimate administrative activities

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging on Q-Free MaxTime systems and centralize logs for security analysis
• Configure alerts for any changes to authentication profile server settings
• Monitor network traffic to MaxTime management interfaces for anomalous patterns
• Implement baseline monitoring for normal administrative activities to identify deviations

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-26363

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network access to Q-Free MaxTime management interfaces using firewall rules or network segmentation
• Audit current authentication profile server configurations for unauthorized changes
• Implement additional network-level authentication (VPN, jump hosts) for accessing MaxTime administration interfaces
• Review access logs for evidence of exploitation attempts

Patch Information

Organizations running Q-Free MaxTime version 2.11.0 or earlier should contact Q-Free for patch availability and upgrade guidance. For detailed vulnerability information, refer to the Nozomi Networks Vulnerability Advisory.

Workarounds

• Implement network segmentation to isolate MaxTime systems from untrusted networks
• Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) to filter malicious requests to the maxprofile/setup/routes endpoint
• Use reverse proxy authentication to add an authentication layer in front of MaxTime management interfaces
• Restrict access to management interfaces to specific trusted IP addresses or VPN connections only

# Example firewall rule to restrict access to MaxTime management interface
# Allow only trusted management network to access the service
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -s 10.10.10.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -s 10.10.10.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j DROP
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j DROP