CVE-2025-28413: Ruoyi Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

CVE-2025-28413 Overview

CVE-2025-28413 is a critical privilege escalation vulnerability discovered in RuoYi version 4.8.0, a popular open-source Java rapid development platform. The vulnerability exists within the SysDictTypeController component and allows remote attackers to escalate their privileges without requiring any prior authentication or user interaction.

RuoYi is widely deployed as a rapid development framework for enterprise Java applications, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for organizations utilizing this platform for internal or customer-facing applications.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit improper access control in the SysDictTypeController component to escalate privileges, potentially gaining full administrative access to affected RuoYi installations without authentication.

Affected Products

• RuoYi v4.8.0
• RuoYi rapid development platform installations using vulnerable SysDictTypeController component

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-04-07 - CVE-2025-28413 published to NVD
• 2025-04-09 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-28413

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-284 (Improper Access Control), indicating a fundamental flaw in how the RuoYi framework validates and enforces authorization decisions within the SysDictTypeController component. The improper access control allows attackers to bypass intended security restrictions and perform actions that should be restricted to privileged users.

The vulnerability is network-accessible and requires no authentication or user interaction to exploit, significantly increasing its risk profile. Successful exploitation can result in complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-28413 stems from improper access control implementation in the SysDictTypeController component of RuoYi v4.8.0. The controller fails to properly validate user permissions before executing privileged operations, allowing unauthorized users to invoke administrative functions. This represents a broken access control vulnerability where authorization checks are either missing or improperly implemented at the controller level.

Attack Vector

The attack is conducted over the network, targeting the SysDictTypeController endpoint in RuoYi v4.8.0. An attacker can send crafted HTTP requests to the vulnerable controller without valid authentication credentials. The controller processes these requests without proper authorization validation, allowing the attacker to execute privileged operations and escalate their access level within the application.

The vulnerability requires no user interaction and can be exploited with low attack complexity, making it highly accessible to threat actors. For detailed technical analysis and proof-of-concept information, refer to the GitHub CVE-2025-28413 Documentation.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-28413

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual HTTP requests to /system/dict/type or related SysDictTypeController endpoints from unauthenticated sources
• Log entries showing privilege escalation attempts or unauthorized access to dictionary type management functions
• Creation or modification of system dictionary entries by users without appropriate administrative privileges
• Unexpected changes to user roles or permissions in the RuoYi application database

Detection Strategies

• Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious requests targeting the SysDictTypeController endpoints
• Deploy application-level logging to capture all requests to administrative controller endpoints with source IP and authentication status
• Configure SIEM rules to alert on patterns of unauthenticated access attempts to privileged RuoYi endpoints
• Use runtime application self-protection (RASP) solutions to detect and prevent privilege escalation attempts

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor access logs for the SysDictTypeController component for requests from unauthorized or unauthenticated sources
• Track changes to system dictionary types and user privilege levels for unauthorized modifications
• Review authentication logs for patterns indicating privilege escalation or authorization bypass attempts
• Implement real-time alerting for any changes to administrative configurations or user roles

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-28413

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade RuoYi to a version newer than 4.8.0 that includes the security fix for CVE-2025-28413
• Implement network-level access controls to restrict access to administrative endpoints from trusted sources only
• Enable comprehensive logging for all controller actions to support incident response and forensic analysis
• Review existing user accounts and permissions for any signs of unauthorized privilege escalation
• Deploy web application firewall rules to filter malicious requests targeting the vulnerable component

Patch Information

Organizations should monitor the RuoYi GitHub Repository for official security patches addressing CVE-2025-28413. It is recommended to update to the latest stable release that includes remediation for this vulnerability. Review the official project releases and changelogs for security-related updates.

Workarounds

• Implement additional authentication and authorization checks at the application gateway or reverse proxy level for the SysDictTypeController endpoints
• Restrict network access to the affected RuoYi application to trusted IP ranges using firewall rules
• Disable or remove the SysDictTypeController component if dictionary type management functionality is not required
• Deploy a web application firewall with rules specifically designed to block privilege escalation attempts

# Example: Restrict access to RuoYi admin endpoints via nginx
location /system/dict/type {
    # Allow only trusted internal networks
    allow 10.0.0.0/8;
    allow 192.168.0.0/16;
    deny all;
    
    # Require authentication at proxy level
    auth_basic "Restricted Access";
    auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd;
    
    proxy_pass http://ruoyi_backend;
}