CVE-2025-27422: FACTION Framework Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2025-27422 Overview

CVE-2025-27422 is an authentication bypass vulnerability affecting FACTION, a PenTesting Report Generation and Collaboration Framework. The vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to register new users with administrator privileges at any time without authorization. While the registration request must follow standard validation rules (such as providing complete information and a secure password), no additional controls exist to prevent unauthorized privilege escalation during the registration process.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can create administrator accounts, gaining complete control over the FACTION platform and all associated penetration testing reports and sensitive data.

Affected Products

• FACTION versions prior to 1.4.3

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-03-03 - CVE CVE-2025-27422 published to NVD
• 2026-04-15 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-27422

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-287 (Improper Authentication), indicating a fundamental flaw in how FACTION validates and authorizes user registration requests. The application fails to implement proper access controls on the user registration endpoint, specifically when handling role assignment during account creation.

The core issue lies in the application accepting role parameters (including administrator privileges) directly from user-controlled input during the registration process. While the system enforces basic validation rules such as requiring complete registration information and password strength requirements, it does not verify whether the requesting party is authorized to create accounts with elevated privileges.

This design flaw represents a broken access control pattern where privilege assignment is determined by client-supplied data rather than server-side authorization checks.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing authorization checks on the user registration functionality. The application trusts client-provided role parameters without validating that the requester has the necessary permissions to assign administrative privileges. This allows any unauthenticated user to specify elevated roles during registration, bypassing the intended access control model entirely.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based and requires no prior authentication. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by:

1. Sending a registration request to the FACTION application
2. Including administrator role parameters in the registration payload
3. Providing valid user details that satisfy the application's validation rules
4. Gaining immediate administrator access upon successful registration

The attack is trivial to execute, requiring only knowledge of the registration endpoint and the parameter format for specifying administrative privileges.

The security patch updated the version from 1.4.0-SNAPSHOT to 1.4.2-SNAPSHOT and subsequently to 1.4.3:

 	<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 	<groupId>org.faction</groupId>
 	<artifactId>faction</artifactId>
-	<version>1.4.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+	<version>1.4.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
 	<packaging>war</packaging>
 	<name>Faction</name>
 	<scm>

Source: GitHub Commit Update

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-27422

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected administrator accounts appearing in the FACTION user database
• Registration activity from suspicious or unknown IP addresses
• Multiple user accounts created in rapid succession with administrative privileges
• Audit logs showing privilege escalation without corresponding authorization events

Detection Strategies

• Monitor user registration endpoints for requests containing administrative role parameters
• Implement logging and alerting on all new account creations, especially those with elevated privileges
• Review FACTION audit logs for unauthorized administrator account creation patterns
• Deploy web application firewall rules to detect registration requests with suspicious role assignments

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging on all authentication and user management endpoints
• Set up real-time alerts for new administrator account registrations
• Periodically audit the user database to identify unauthorized privileged accounts
• Monitor for anomalous registration patterns such as off-hours activity or geographically suspicious access

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-27422

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade FACTION to version 1.4.3 or later immediately
• Audit all existing user accounts and remove any unauthorized administrator accounts
• Review access logs to identify potential exploitation attempts
• Restrict network access to the FACTION application while applying patches

Patch Information

The vulnerability is fixed in FACTION version 1.4.3. Organizations should update to this version or later as soon as possible. The security patch is available via the GitHub Commit Update. Additional details are available in the GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-97cv-f342-v2jc.

Workarounds

• Implement network-level access controls to restrict registration endpoint access to trusted networks only
• Deploy a web application firewall with rules blocking registration requests containing administrative role parameters
• Disable self-registration functionality until the patch can be applied
• Place FACTION behind VPN or other network segmentation controls

# Example: Restrict access to FACTION registration endpoint using iptables
# Only allow registration from trusted internal networks
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 8080 -s 10.0.0.0/8 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 8080 -j DROP