CVE-2025-37169: AOS-10 Mobility Gateway RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2025-37169 Overview

CVE-2025-37169 is a stack overflow vulnerability affecting the AOS-10 web-based management interface of HPE Aruba Mobility Gateway devices. This memory corruption flaw allows authenticated attackers with administrative privileges to execute arbitrary code as a privileged user on the underlying operating system. The vulnerability exists within the web management interface, making it exploitable over the network by authenticated threat actors.

Critical Impact

Successful exploitation enables authenticated attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges, potentially leading to complete system compromise of affected Mobility Gateway appliances.

Affected Products

• HPE Aruba AOS-10 Mobility Gateway
• AOS-10 Web-based Management Interface
• Affected versions detailed in HPE Security Bulletin

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-01-13 - CVE CVE-2025-37169 published to NVD
• 2026-01-13 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-37169

Vulnerability Analysis

This stack overflow vulnerability occurs within the web-based management interface of AOS-10 Mobility Gateway devices. Stack overflows are a class of memory corruption vulnerabilities where data written to a buffer on the stack exceeds the allocated space, corrupting adjacent memory regions including saved return addresses and other critical control data.

In the context of CVE-2025-37169, the vulnerability requires authentication, meaning an attacker must first obtain valid administrative credentials to exploit this flaw. Once authenticated, a malicious actor can craft specific requests to the web interface that trigger the stack overflow condition. The corruption of stack memory allows the attacker to hijack program execution flow and execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the underlying process—typically a privileged user context on the Mobility Gateway's operating system.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is insufficient bounds checking when processing user-supplied input within the AOS-10 web management interface. When data is copied to a stack-allocated buffer without proper validation of input length, the buffer can overflow, overwriting adjacent stack memory. This lack of input validation creates the conditions necessary for memory corruption and subsequent code execution.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based, targeting the web management interface of affected Mobility Gateway devices. An attacker must first authenticate to the management interface with high-privilege credentials (administrative access). Once authenticated, the attacker can submit specially crafted HTTP requests containing malicious payloads designed to overflow the vulnerable stack buffer. The attack does not require user interaction beyond the initial authentication.

The exploitation sequence typically involves:

1. Authenticating to the AOS-10 web management interface with administrative credentials
2. Identifying the vulnerable endpoint or parameter within the web interface
3. Crafting a payload that overflows the stack buffer with controlled data
4. Overwriting the saved return address to redirect execution to attacker-controlled code
5. Achieving arbitrary code execution with privileged system access

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-37169

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual or malformed HTTP requests to the AOS-10 web management interface
• Unexpected process crashes or restarts on Mobility Gateway devices
• Evidence of unauthorized administrative access or login attempts
• Anomalous outbound network connections from gateway devices following management interface access

Detection Strategies

• Monitor authentication logs for the AOS-10 management interface for suspicious login patterns or credential abuse
• Implement network intrusion detection rules to identify anomalous HTTP traffic targeting Mobility Gateway management ports
• Deploy endpoint detection capabilities on network segments where Mobility Gateway devices reside
• Review system logs on affected devices for signs of exploitation or unexpected privileged command execution

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable comprehensive logging for all administrative access to Mobility Gateway web interfaces
• Configure alerting for failed and successful authentication attempts from unexpected source addresses
• Monitor for changes to system configurations or the introduction of unauthorized accounts
• Implement network segmentation monitoring to detect lateral movement attempts from compromised gateway devices

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-37169

Immediate Actions Required

• Review and apply patches referenced in the HPE Security Bulletin
• Restrict access to the AOS-10 web management interface to trusted administrative networks only
• Audit administrative accounts and credentials with access to Mobility Gateway devices
• Implement network segmentation to isolate management interfaces from general network traffic

Patch Information

HPE has released security updates to address this vulnerability. Administrators should consult the HPE Security Bulletin for detailed patch information, affected version numbers, and upgrade instructions. It is strongly recommended to apply the latest available firmware updates to all affected Mobility Gateway devices as soon as possible.

Workarounds

• Restrict web management interface access to a dedicated management VLAN with strict access controls
• Implement strong authentication mechanisms and enforce complex password policies for administrative accounts
• Use firewall rules to limit management interface access to specific trusted IP addresses
• Disable the web management interface if not required and use alternative management methods such as CLI via SSH
• Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) in front of management interfaces to filter potentially malicious requests