CVE-2025-3089: ServiceNow AI Platform Auth Bypass Flaw

CVE-2025-3089 Overview

ServiceNow disclosed a Broken Access Control vulnerability in the ServiceNow AI Platform tracked as CVE-2025-3089. The flaw allows a low-privileged authenticated user to bypass access controls and perform a limited set of actions typically reserved for higher-privileged users. Successful exploitation can lead to unauthorized data modifications within the affected platform. ServiceNow has released fixes across supported patches and family releases for both hosted and self-hosted customers, as well as partners. The issue is categorized under [CWE-639] (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key).

Critical Impact
An authenticated low-privileged user can bypass authorization checks in the ServiceNow AI Platform and perform actions restricted to higher-privileged roles, resulting in unauthorized data modifications.

Affected Products

ServiceNow AI Platform (hosted deployments)
ServiceNow AI Platform (self-hosted deployments)
ServiceNow partner instances running affected family releases

Discovery Timeline

2025-08-12 - CVE-2025-3089 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-3089

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2025-3089 is a Broken Access Control weakness affecting the ServiceNow AI Platform. The platform fails to consistently enforce authorization checks when a low-privileged user requests actions scoped to higher-privileged roles. As a result, the attacker gains the ability to perform a limited subset of privileged operations without any elevation of role membership. The vulnerability is network-reachable and requires authentication with a low-privileged account. No user interaction is needed to trigger the flaw. Impact is limited to integrity of data within the platform; confidentiality and availability are not directly affected according to the vendor advisory.

Root Cause

The root cause is inconsistent enforcement of authorization on a subset of platform actions, aligning with [CWE-639]. The application relies on request-supplied identifiers or context to determine access rights, rather than performing a server-side check against the caller's effective role. When a low-privileged user issues a crafted request, the platform executes the action without verifying that the user is authorized for that specific operation.

Attack Vector

An attacker must first authenticate to the ServiceNow AI Platform with any low-privileged account, including accounts obtained through legitimate provisioning, guest access, or credential compromise. The attacker then issues platform requests targeting privileged actions and object references. Because the vulnerable code path does not validate the caller's role against the requested action, the operation succeeds and modifies data that should be out of reach. Refer to the ServiceNow Knowledge Base Article for technical specifics.

No verified proof-of-concept code is available at the time of publication. The vulnerability mechanism is described in prose because no sanitized exploit example has been released by the vendor.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-3089

Indicators of Compromise

Platform audit records showing low-privileged accounts performing actions typically restricted to admin, itil, or delegated administrator roles.
Unexpected create, update, or delete operations on records owned by higher-privileged users or system-scoped tables.
Spikes in API or UI requests from a single low-privileged user targeting privileged endpoints or sys_ids outside the user's normal scope.

Detection Strategies

Baseline each user role against the set of tables and actions they legitimately touch, then alert on deviations.
Compare the sys_user role membership at request time against the actions logged in sys_audit and syslog_transaction to surface authorization mismatches.
Correlate authentication events with subsequent privileged action attempts to identify credential-based abuse of the platform.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable and forward ServiceNow platform audit logs, transaction logs, and REST API logs to a centralized analytics platform.
Monitor for repeated authorization failures immediately followed by successful privileged operations from the same session.
Review outbound integrations and scheduled jobs for tampering by non-admin users after applying the patch.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-3089

Immediate Actions Required

Apply the ServiceNow-supplied patches and family release updates listed in KB2264930 to all hosted and self-hosted instances.
Inventory low-privileged accounts and rotate credentials for any accounts that show anomalous activity in audit logs.
Review recent record modifications on sensitive tables for unauthorized changes attributable to non-privileged users.

Patch Information

ServiceNow has published fixes for CVE-2025-3089 in the patches and family releases identified in the vendor knowledge base article. Hosted customers receive the fix through ServiceNow's managed upgrade path, while self-hosted customers and partners must apply the update manually. Consult the ServiceNow Knowledge Base Article for the exact patch identifiers that apply to your instance family.

Workarounds

Restrict network access to the ServiceNow AI Platform to trusted corporate ranges and identity provider egress until patches are applied.
Tighten role assignments and remove unnecessary low-privileged accounts that are not actively used.
Enable multi-factor authentication on all platform accounts to raise the cost of credential-based access required for exploitation.

bash

# Configuration example: verify patch level on a self-hosted ServiceNow instance
# Navigate to: System Diagnostics > Stats > Upgrade History
# Or query the sys_upgrade_history table via scripted REST:
#   GET /api/now/table/sys_upgrade_history?sysparm_query=ORDERBYDESCsys_created_on&sysparm_limit=1
# Confirm the returned build matches the fixed release listed in KB2264930.