CVE-2025-37098: HPE Insight Remote Support Path Traversal

CVE-2025-37098 Overview

A path traversal vulnerability has been identified in HPE Insight Remote Support (IRS), a remote monitoring and diagnostic tool used by enterprises to manage their HPE infrastructure. This vulnerability affects all versions prior to v7.15.0.646 and allows unauthenticated attackers to access sensitive files outside the intended directory structure via specially crafted requests over the network.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated remote attackers can exploit this path traversal vulnerability to read sensitive files from affected HPE Insight Remote Support servers, potentially exposing configuration data, credentials, and other confidential information.

Affected Products

• HPE Insight Remote Support versions prior to v7.15.0.646

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-07-01 - CVE-2025-37098 published to NVD
• 2025-07-10 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-37098

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory), commonly known as path traversal or directory traversal. The flaw exists in HPE Insight Remote Support's file handling mechanisms, where user-supplied input is not properly sanitized before being used to construct file paths.

Path traversal vulnerabilities occur when an application uses external input to construct pathnames for accessing files or directories but fails to neutralize special elements such as ../ sequences. This allows attackers to escape the intended directory structure and access arbitrary files on the system.

In the context of HPE Insight Remote Support, this vulnerability can be exploited remotely without authentication. The network-accessible nature of this flaw, combined with the lack of privilege requirements, significantly increases the attack surface. Successful exploitation could result in the disclosure of highly confidential information stored on the affected server.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2025-37098 is improper input validation in HPE Insight Remote Support's file access functionality. The application fails to adequately sanitize user-controlled input that is used to construct file paths, allowing directory traversal sequences (such as ../) to escape the application's web root or designated file directories.

This type of vulnerability typically occurs when:

• User input is concatenated directly into file path strings
• Path canonicalization is not performed before file access
• Blacklist-based filtering is insufficient or can be bypassed with encoding techniques

Attack Vector

The attack vector for this vulnerability is network-based, meaning an attacker can exploit it remotely without requiring physical access to the target system. The exploitation does not require user interaction or prior authentication, making it particularly dangerous in environments where HPE Insight Remote Support is exposed to untrusted networks.

An attacker would craft malicious HTTP requests containing path traversal sequences to access files outside the intended web root. Depending on the application's permissions and the underlying operating system, this could allow reading of system configuration files, application credentials, log files, or other sensitive data.

The vulnerability can be exploited by manipulating URL parameters or request paths with directory traversal sequences. Encoded variations such as %2e%2e%2f or double URL encoding may be used to bypass basic input filters. Successful exploitation grants read access to sensitive files on the server, limited only by the application's file system permissions.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-37098

Indicators of Compromise

• HTTP requests to HPE Insight Remote Support containing path traversal sequences such as ../, ..%2f, or %2e%2e/
• Unusual file access patterns in application or web server logs indicating attempts to read system files like /etc/passwd or Windows system files
• Error messages or responses indicating file not found for paths outside the normal application directory
• Network traffic showing requests with encoded directory traversal patterns to the HPE IRS service

Detection Strategies

• Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block path traversal patterns in HTTP requests
• Configure intrusion detection systems (IDS) to alert on directory traversal attack signatures targeting HPE Insight Remote Support
• Review HPE IRS application logs for suspicious file access attempts or unusual error patterns
• Monitor for unauthorized read access to sensitive system files through file integrity monitoring solutions

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging on HPE Insight Remote Support servers and forward logs to a SIEM for analysis
• Implement network-level monitoring to detect unusual traffic patterns to HPE IRS instances
• Configure alerts for any access attempts containing encoded characters or traversal sequences
• Regularly audit file access logs on systems hosting HPE Insight Remote Support

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-37098

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade HPE Insight Remote Support to version 7.15.0.646 or later immediately
• Restrict network access to HPE Insight Remote Support to trusted administrative networks only
• Implement web application firewall rules to block path traversal patterns as a defense-in-depth measure
• Audit systems for signs of previous exploitation by reviewing access logs for suspicious patterns

Patch Information

HPE has released a security update addressing this vulnerability. Organizations should upgrade to HPE Insight Remote Support version 7.15.0.646 or later. For detailed patch information and download instructions, refer to the HPE Security Bulletin.

Workarounds

• If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to HPE Insight Remote Support through firewall rules, allowing only trusted administrative IP addresses
• Deploy a reverse proxy or web application firewall in front of HPE IRS to filter malicious requests containing path traversal sequences
• Consider temporarily disabling the affected service if it is not critical to operations until the patch can be applied
• Implement network segmentation to isolate HPE Insight Remote Support from untrusted network segments

# Example: Restrict access to HPE IRS using iptables (Linux)
# Allow access only from trusted management subnet
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 7906 -s 10.0.0.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 7906 -j DROP